


While You've Been Saving Your Neck I've Been Breaking Mine

by thisdorkyficthing



Category: Thor (Movies)
Genre: Arranged Marriage, Assassination Attempt(s), Assassination Plot(s), Falling In Love, Fluff, Intersex Loki (Marvel), Jötunn Loki, M/M, Mpreg, Smut, Thor is a Cinnamon Roll, laufey is a dick
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-05
Updated: 2015-08-20
Packaged: 2018-04-02 22:42:52
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 23,502
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4076551
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thisdorkyficthing/pseuds/thisdorkyficthing
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The first thing Loki notices about Thor is that he seems to never look down at his food or drink, apparently trusting the servants entirely to make sure his cup and plate are never empty for long. It would be almost too easy to poison him.</p><p>Okay, so it wasn't actually the first thing Loki noticed about his new husband, but it's the first thing that's useful to him.</p><p>The real first thing was his eyes.</p><p>- based on <a href="http://kingloptr.tumblr.com/post/120272687335/want-a-semi-humorous-fic-where-thor-and-loki-are">kingloptr's thorki want.</a></p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [KingLoptr (Aestridr)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aestridr/gifts).



The first thing Loki notices about Thor is that he seems to never look down at his food or drink, apparently trusting the servants entirely to make sure his cup and plate are never empty for long. It would be almost _too_ easy to poison him.

Okay, so it wasn't actually the first thing Loki noticed about his new husband, but it's the first thing that's useful to him.

The real first thing was his eyes.

\- - -

 _The knife in Loki's hand is carved from stone. He can't imagine anyone on Jotunheim making it, given whose comically small hand it was made to fit. He's standing in front of dummy that's just a touch taller than him. His father crouches to the side, giving Loki his usual deeply grim look. It's been a week since he overheard his father's conversation with a few the statesmen. Explaining how he'd_ found a use for the runt. _  
_

 _“You must learn to strike without hesitation, because Odin's son will_ not _hesitate to kill_ you _, understand?”_

_Loki nods. He grips the knife the way his father showed him.  
_

_His father gives him a curt nod back. “Now, I want you to slice his throat on the count of three.”  
_

_Loki steps to the back of the dummy, holding his knife tightly, his muscles tensed and ready to pounce.  
_

_“One... Two... Three.”  
_

_Loki grabs the head of the dummy with one hand, dragging the blade across it's fabric neck with the other. Feathers fall from the ripped fabric like fluffy snowflakes.  
_

_Loki looks over to his father, who gives him a rare smile that makes Loki push his chin out proudly.  
_

_“Better. I think I will have your brother's capture some hares for your next lesson. I want you to be comfortable around the sight of blood.”_

\- - - 

They sit together on an ornate bench that Loki guesses has some sort of significance to the Aesir. As soon as they sat down at the beginning of the reception Thor had pulled Loki close enough that he was practically in Thor's lap, and since then Thor's hand has been gradually drifting down from Loki's waist to his ass. Even a few hours – and horns of mead – later, Loki is still put off by the feeling of Thor so close to him. It doesn't help that person after person comes up to the table, giving them their blessings and sharing a few lewd jokes with Thor before finally fucking off to get more drunk. The whole thing is noisy and garish that it's giving Loki a headache. To Loki, it looks like the party could very well end in a drunken orgy and, _frankly_ , Loki's not sure he could hide his disgust at seeing a mass of pink, pale bodies... _writhing_.

He's startled when Thor takes notice of his discomfort. His hand moves back to Loki's waist as he leans in to speak in his ear. “Are you well, husband? Do you wish to retire to our chambers now?”

Loki shudders and he's not sure if it's from the impossibly deep rumble of Thor's voice or  the hot breath gusting over his skin. His skin prickles either way.

“The party is getting to be a bit much, is all,” he says, his reply coming out a bit more breathy than anticipated. 

Thor smiles, leaning in again to ask, “are the celebrations on Jotunheim not quite so...” He glances out to the lines of tables where their guests( _Thor's_ guests – none of the party from Jotunheim stayed for this portion of the wedding) toss bits of food at one another and spill their drinks as they laugh at jokes. “ _Ostentatious?_ ”

“Yes,” Loki says with a shrug of his shoulder.

Thor laughs – not at him, Loki surmises – and gives Loki's waist a squeeze. “Then this must be overwhelming for you. Forgive me for not being a more vigilant husband in ensuring your comfort.”

Loki laughs because he thinks Thor is joking, but when he looks back to Thor he finds his expression is actually completely earnest. His laugh cuts off with a small cough and he spits out “you're forgiven” a moment later. Thor smiles and leans in again, his lips brushing the shell of Loki's ear as he speaks. 

“I'll have to ask you to forgive me for this, as well.”

Before Loki can manage to get past the pleasant shiver that goes down his spine and actually process the words Thor said, he is standing and guzzling down the last of the mead from his horn. The crowd cheers at the sight, tipping back their own cups and horns. 

With some of the mead dripping down his scruffy chin, Thor raises the horn above his head and bellows towards the ceiling as he throws it to the ground, the crowd once again following suit. 

“ _Yimir's shriveled balls!”_ Loki claps his hands over his ears, cringing hard as it only dulls the cacophony. 

Loki yelps when he's suddenly hefted from his seat just a moment later. Thor holds him with _unnerving_ ease, carrying him around the table and down the center of the massive hall – not _once_ slipping on spilled wine or a broken cup – as revelers cheer and whistle at them.

He only sets Loki down when the doors are shut. Loki practically jumps away from him. It's be along day and Loki's patience is _thoroughly_ spent now. He looks down at his stupid, overcomplicated outfit, the white iridescent silk all crumpled to Hel, and grunts as he takes out some of his frustration by tugging at it.

“Animals, the lot of you,” he hisses. His heart thuds when he realizes he said that out loud. Thor just laughs again.

He's still laughing as he steps up to Loki and takes his hands in to his own. He turns them over and gives each one a soft kiss on the palm. “Forgive me for the display, but they would've thought I'd conked my head with Mjolnir if I had not done so. It's something of a tradition.”

Loki narrows his eyes at him. He can't help it.

He pulls Loki's hands to his armored chest, the metal warm against his palms, and flattens his own over them before he says, “I _swear_ for as long we are wed I'll never pick you up and carry you around like that again.” Then, he smirks, one of his thick blonde eyebrows rising up. “Unless you ask me to, of course.”

Loki gapes at him like a suffocating fish.

“Shall we head to our chambers now?”

Loki nods and lets Thor lead him through the halls – and just _how_ is he ever supposed to find his way around this place? – until they come upon a set of golden doors that look just like all the other damn doors and opens them. 

They lead into a foyer that is, unsurprisingly, as grand as the rest of the palace. There are thick red curtains pulled closed to hide the balcony that sits opposite the door, there are a few chairs set along the walls, near the other doors, but other than that the room is fairly empty. 

Thor leads him to one of the doors on the left side. It's a study, by the looks of it, lit with flickering torches that are set between the many bookshelves. Loki spots some trinkets on the shelves and on the lavish desk facing the door that make the room seem more personal. 

“I had a hand in setting our rooms up, and I tried my best to keep your tastes in mind but I'll admit, I wasn't given much to go on,” Thor's says from the doorway.  
Loki walks over to a large bookshelf, running his fingers along the spines of the heavy tomes.

“I wish you sent more of your things. It feels like I just sort of moved to a new part of the palace.”

He didn't _have_ things to send – his father liked to stress the importance of not forming emotional attachments to things by not letting Loki have them. Loki could only manage to respond with a shrug. He pulled out one of the heavier looking books, pretending to take interest in it's title as he weighed it in his hands, pondering how much force he might need to use to bludgeon Thor with it. Perhaps if he was in a pinch...

He nearly drops the book on his foot when Thor touches his waist. “ _Careful_ , husband,” he says softly, taking the book from Loki's hands to put it back on the shelf. “I suppose I will just have to get you lots and lots of gifts then.”

Loki looks back to Thor to say something but just gapes at him again. There's something about the look in his face that sends Loki off-kilter. He'd been told countless stories of Odin and his son – violent, war hungry brutes out for blood and glory and nothing more.

He was expecting Thor to be much more monstrous.

“Would you like to see our bedroom?” Thor asks with a with a charmingly crooked smile.

Loki feels like an idiot as he nods again, his mouth still hanging open a little.  
Thor takes his hand and leads him back through the foyer, through the other set of doors. 

The bedroom is lit by a low burning fire at one side of the room, the other has another large balcony, only this one has it's curtains wide open to let in the light from the moons and city(still very much in the midst of celebrating their wedding from the sounds drifting up to them) and there are a few plush couches and chairs near it. But the bed is truly a thing to behold – it's huge and lush, absolutely laden with blankets, furs and pillows. Deep green velvet curtains hang from the the posts of the golden frame-

“I was told your favorite color is green,” Thor whispers against his ear.

“You were told right,” Loki says, breathless.

Thor's smile somehow becomes even brighter. He kisses Loki's hand and leads him deeper in to the room as he says, “I was very picky about the bed, since I figured we'd be spending a great deal of time in it.”

The spell put on his body to keep him from overheating in Asgard's climate gives him the ability to sweat and the sensation of his skin getting clammy is odd, to say the least. He uses the hand not clasped in Thor's to rub his sticky neck, pushing down the high collar of his decorative cloak.

“Am I being too forward?”

Loki feels out of sorts. He expected this to all go differently. He expected something else from Thor.

Thor steps in front of him, his brows furrowing in concern as he takes a light hold of Loki's waist once again. “I do not mean to rush you, Loki. We do not have to do anything tonight if you wish.”

Loki shakes himself. He's been training for this since he was a boy. He won't be shaken so easily. “Thor, what did you think of me when we met?”

Thor smiles and in the back of his head, Loki can admit it's a lovely thing on him. “I thought you were absolutely beautiful. What did you think of me?”

That your eyes looked nothing like what my father had described. “That you were handsome.”

“Is there anything else you'd like to know about me?”

“What's your favorite color? Since it seems no one thought it fit to tell me.” Loki smirks. 

Thor chuckled, brushing the backs of his fingers along Loki's cheeks. “I've always been quite fond of red, but lately certain shades of blue have become quite appealing as well.”

Loki's cheeks flare with heat. _Dammit_.

“Would it possible for me to kiss you?”

Loki nods be cause he has to. He knows he has to do this to proceed with the plan. Thor takes Loki's chin between his thumb and finger, tipping his head back as he leans in. 

It's not the quick, chaste kiss they shared at the alter. This one is wet and hot, overwhelming like the rest of this day has been. Thor moves his hand to cup the back of Loki's head while he wraps his arm around Loki's waist. Thor's armor digs in to him slightly as Thor tightens his hold on Loki's waist and the discomfort grounds him.

They both take huge gulps of air as Thor pulls away. Thor keeps a careful hold of Loki while Loki realizes he's digging his nails in to Thor's armor. He fans his fingers over Thor's chest while he takes another deep breath and tries to get his head in the right place.

“I must be honest with you- I have been waiting all night to do that.”

“ _Guh,_ ” Loki replies.

Thor dives forward again and Loki leans in to meet him. Thor kisses Loki with a ferocity that makes Loki's knees go soft, his heart fluttering wildly in his chest as Thor claims his mouth.

This is a bit more like the Thor he's meant to kill, but he seems to be out for something entirely different than blood. Loki's thighs twitch at that thought. Thor pulls back, just a few inches, the two of them panting hotly into each others mouths for a few long moments before Thor pulls back entirely.

“Perhaps we should get ready for bed?” Thor looks him over as he says this, his tongue darting out to wet his lips.

“Yes,” Loki says huskily. He clears his throat.

He watches Thor walk over to the fireplace and begin to undress. Thor shucks off his cape and has his chest plate unfastened before Loki manages to shake himself and go at his own outfit. The cloak is simple enough to get off, letting it drop to the floor just as Thor does, but the rest of the thing is maze of straps and flaps and clasps and Loki doesn't have the first clue of how to get the damn thing off. He tugs violently at one of the straps that goes across his chest with growl.

“May I help?” Thor asks, already strolling up to Loki half undressed.

Loki gestures wildly at himself and says, “it took three handmaidens to get me in this thing. How did they expect me to get out of it on my own?”

“I don't think they expected you to get it off on your own,” Thor says with a cockeyed smile as he reaches for the strap Loki was having trouble with. He slides his fingers over the white leather, finding the clasp at his side and unfastening it.

“Don't worry,” Thor continues, going from clasp to clasp with ease. “Generally our outfits are not _this_ complicated.”

Loki swallows as Thor wraps his arms around Loki to get at the fastenings in the back, goosebumps rising on his skin as the back of the garment falls open and lets cool air wash over his skin. He swallows again when Thor doesn't hesitate to sink down on to one knee and begins working on the boots he was strapped into. He stands rigid, the top slipping down his shoulders as he watches Thor. 

When Thor stands again his cheeks are a touch more pink than before. He licks his lips and looks away, towards the balcony, and says, “I think you should be able to manage the rest yourself now.”

Loki moves as though he's in sand, tugging lightly at the sleeves until the top comes off as Thor stands just a touch too close. He lets it fall to the floor in a soft clatter and it leads Thor's gaze back to him, his eyes raking over Loki. He wiggles his feet free from the boots next, kicking them aside so the both of them are left in nothing but their trousers.

They both stay just like that for minutes, silently taking one another in from the corners of their eyes. Loki's father never really spoke much on this particular part of the plan.

Actually, Loki can recall only one time where his father spoke of his wedding night.

\- - - 

_“I would advise you to not try and fight it. Just go along with whatever Odinson wants,” his father says gruffly. Loki sits stiff as a board in his chair, his dinner untouched. He wishes now that he did not ask this question. “You want to lull him into a false sense of security. Make yourself to be a docile wife so it will be all the more shocking to him when you slit his throat.”  
_

_Loki holds back a cringe as he nods his head, quietly thankful when his father turns back to his dinner and does not go into greater detail._

\- - - 

Thor turns away suddenly, walking back towards the fireplace. “I am sorry, I must be making you uncomfortable.”

Loki can't help but stare and blink at the back of Thor's head. Has he been married to the wrong Odinson?

“Do not be sorry,” he murmurs.

Thor looks back at him over a broad shoulder and smiles. “Then I'm _not_ sorry for looking at my very fetching husband.”

Loki forces out a laugh and folds his arms around himself, feeling exposed and even more disconcerted. Thor turns back to him again, the moments it takes for him to be back in front of Loki seem to take an eternity.

He doesn't ask before kissing Loki again. Thor's hand cups Loki's neck, his thumb grazing the line of Loki's jaw. Loki collapses against Thor's chest and is so distracted by the warmth rolling off his smooth skin that he hardly notices Thor pressing his other hand to the small of Loki's back. The light touch sends spikes of pleasure down his spine that ends in his cock and cunt throbbing in unison. 

Loki was expecting certain things to happen on this night. None of them involved his own pleasure.

Thor breathes his name against his lips, his hands becoming a little heavier as they drag along his torso. Loki follows suit, running his hands down Thor's sides, feeling the firm muscle flexing under pale skin. He thinks of all the stories his father has told him over the many years he's been preparing for this. He can feel the power there, there _must_ be a beast hidden under this strange amenable facade.

“May I pick you up just once more?” Thor asks, breathless and with dark eyes.

Loki nods and Thor crouches, knocking Loki's legs out from beneath him with one arm and catches his upper half with the other, effortlessly carrying him the rest of the way to their bed. He carefully sets Loki down and stands back up, chest falling and rising with his heavy breaths as he stares down at Loki. The light from the fire casts his skin in gold and his eyes reflect the flames. _There it is_ , Loki thinks, his hips shifting of their own accord.

Thor falls forward over Loki, forcing his thighs to part, and kisses him hungrily. His lips move down Loki's neck and shoulder, the scrape of facial hair drawing gasps from Loki. He squirms under Thor's bulk, his cock pressing insistently against his trousers while his cunt stains them.

“Tell me if you do not like something I do,” Thor mumbles against the skin of his chest. A second later his lips are latched around the deep blue nub of a nipple and sucking. Loki whines pitifully as he arches his chest closer to Thor's mouth. He reaches up and grabs a chunk of his own hair, pulling on it viciously to ground himself. He twists it when Thor moves to the other.

Thor pulls away to kiss Loki's mouth briefly before sitting up, his hands grasping at Loki's hips. “Have you ever laid with anyone, Loki?” Thor asks, his voice so rough that it sends another shiver through Loki.

Loki squeaks out a small, “no.”

“Then I will be sure to be gentle _and_ thorough,” he says with a cheeky smile. He drops down to his knees, dragging Loki to the edge of the bed so that his legs hang off it. Then, he tugs the laces of Loki's trousers loose and peels them down his legs, the cool air on his wet cunt making his thighs jerk. Thor makes a sound in the back of his throat, gently prying Loki's knees farther apart. Loki clamps his eyes shut, throwing one of his arms over his face while the other twists into the bedding by his hip. 

Thor does nothing for what feels like an eternity before he feels Thor's lips on his knee. He works his way up Loki's thigh with a methodical slowness, pressing featherlight kisses all over his inner thighs. When he reaches the crease of Loki's thigh he pauses, his breath gusting across sensitive skin, it pulls a whimper from from Loki's throat and a pulse from his sex. _He can see that_ , Loki thinks while his face heats in embarrassment. Thor groans though, sliding a rough cheek on his inner thigh before moving to kiss his other knee. He repeats the same motions on that thigh. It leaves Loki jumpy, his cock ready to burst while his cunt weeps. Thor hovers there again, the ghostly caress of his breath making Loki tense.

Loki yelps when Thor flicks his tongue over him, his thighs slamming shut around Thor's head.

Thor lets out a muffled laugh and muscles Loki's legs apart, pinning them with his forearms. “Perhaps that was just a _bit_ too much teasing.”

Loki responds with a series of garbled syllables.

Thor braces his arms and goes back to work. He presses his tongue flat, giving Loki one long, slow lick to the base of his cock.

He pauses again. “I have never pleasured a Jotunn before, you may have to tell me what feels good.”

Loki nods his head hard, just wanting Thor to get back to what he was doing.

He does. He flicks over his cunt in little, experimental licks, and very quickly discovers that he can get Loki to shout when he gives firmer strokes where it meets his cock and when he dips shallowly into his entrance. Loki's writhing violently in minutes.

Loki doesn't feel Thor's hand move until it's wrapped around his cock, his calloused thumb swirling along the wet crown as he gives it short strokes. Loki arches off the bed and stars explode behind his eyelids. The pleasure is so intense he feels he might split apart. Thor continues through his orgasm, wringing every bit of it from Loki before pulling back. 

When Loki finally manages to pull his head up to look down at Thor, his head is pillowed on Loki's thigh and he has a satisfied grin on his face.

“I can't feel my toes,” Loki says, voice wobbling.

“I'll take that as a good thing,” Thor chuckles. He crawls back over Loki, pressing his head back to the bed as he kisses him deeply. He can taste himself on Thor. 

When he pulls back he picks up Loki again, positioning his slack body farther on to the bed and setting his head on to one of the many plush pillows. Loki watches through lidded eyes as Thor tugs off his own trousers, his fat cock jutting out from the apex of his muscled thighs. Loki bites his lip to keep from squirming. He's not sure whether he finds prospect of taking that inside himself enticing or terrifying. 

He realizes he's been staring when he catches a glimpse of Thor's smile, quickly looking up towards the canopy as Thor moves around the bed, pulling the small golden ties loose to so the curtains fall in to place and plunging it in to darkness. He slips in after and settles beside Loki. Loki tenses from not being able to see him, but that problem is quickly solved when Thor snaps his fingers a second later.

Twinkling lights appear at the top of the canopy, giving off just enough light that they can now see each other. He looks over to Thor, who is looking up at the lights with a small smile.

“They mimic Asgard's constellations,” Thor explains. Looking back to Loki he adds, “I had to enlist my mother's help for the spell, but thought it would be prettier to look at than torches.”

“It's lovely,” Loki says, blinking up at the lights as they glint and flicker like real stars. His attention is pulled back to Thor when he feels fingers graze his collarbone.

Thor just stares at him for a few moments, his fingers in constant motion as they trace the lines on his shoulder. When he speaks, his voice is barely above a whisper. “I hope to make a happy home for you here, Loki.”

Loki really doesn't know what to say to that. Luckily, Thor kisses him again, negating the need for a response. Thor works himself between Loki's thighs once again, his body somehow larger and all the more imposing in this position. He doesn't do much more beside kiss Loki though and, before he even realizes, Loki becomes a puddle under Thor's bulk. His thighs twitch when Thor braces himself on one arm, reaching down between their bodies with the other. He teases Loki's cock first, giving it light strokes until it's hard, and then reaches down farther to play with his cunt again. He skims the folds with his fingertips at first, until Loki's breath comes in ragged pants, before sinking a finger into him, his other hand caressing Loki's cheek gently.

With the heel of his palm rubbing just below the base of Loki's cock, Thor works his finger in and out slowly, the sensation going from odd to good to not enough in the span of minutes. Loki whines rather than speaks his demand for more, his hips rocking up to meet Thor's hand.

“Alright, alright,” Thor lets out in a breathy laugh. He slips in a second finger the next time he pushes in and Loki groans, his hands knotting themselves into Thor's soft hair. 

Loki gasps when his fingers brush a spot that makes his cock jump. He chokes out “ _there, there again_ ,” as he tightens his fists in Thor's hair.

“Where?” Thor huffs as he looks down between them. He bites his lip in concentration as he carefully prods around inside Loki. Loki's whole body jerks when he hits it again, one of his hands flying down to grab Thor's wrist. 

“Is that it?”

Loki nods and makes a pitiful noise in his throat. Thor gives him another kiss as he begins thrusting his fingers again, making sure to brush over that spot each time. Loki keeps his hand on Thor's wrist, unable to unwrap his fingers from it, it seems.

“You are even more beautiful than I could have imagined,” Thor slurs, his voice so thick it vibrates in Loki's chest. Thor pushes in a third finger with the other two. Loki's brows furrow at the slight bit of discomfort from the stretch, but it soon melts away in to pleasure as Thor continues his ministrations. 

When Loki manages to lift his head to look down between their bodies he sees that Thor's cock hangs heavy above his own, the head shining and deep red as it peeks out from it's foreskin. He pries his fingers off Thor's wrist to wrap it around the thick shaft. Thor growls deep in his chest as his hips buck forward, his pulsing cock nearly slipping free from Loki's grasp.

Thor goes still, his chest shaking as he releases a shuddering breath. Loki lets his head fall back to the pillow, the ravenous look in Thor's eyes making Loki's cunt clench around his fingers.

Thor licks his lips before asking, “Loki, can I take you now?”

Loki can only manage to give a tiny nod of his head, his hand tightening around Thor without thought.

Loki lets out a whine as Thor's fingers slip free of him, his hand knocked away from Thor's cock as he uses Loki's own juices to slick it. Almost before Loki can process it, Thor has one of his legs hooked in the crook of his arm and pushed high up, and his cock is sliding slowly but persistently in to Loki. It's an strange feeling and it makes Loki tense up. Thor pauses, kissing Loki messily until he relaxes again. His cock feels so rigid, he thinks, forcing Loki's body to accommodate it. Thor grunts when his hips meet the back of Loki's thighs, stilling above Loki again, their foreheads pressed together as they take heaving gulps of air. 

Thor tips his chin down, pressing their lips together as he pulls his hips back and rolls them forward in one smooth, shallow thrust. Loki moans, pressing his head into the pillows as he grips on to Thor's shoulders. This spurs Thor on, he moves faster, his hips driving in deeper until Loki is yowling and practically convulsing under him

Thor sits back on his knees and grips Loki's hips tightly, pulling him up to meet his own hips before driving into him with short, forceful thrusts. The wet slap of skin on skin is nearly louder than the sounds coming out of Loki now. Loki's vision blurs and he might be ripping holes in to the bedding with how viciously he's wrenching his fists in it but he's so close to coming again he could scream.

Actually, he _is_ screaming.

He continues to scream, shrill and ragged, as Thor's hand wraps around his cock. That's all it takes for Loki to be sent in to a final fit, his cunt spasming around Thor's unyielding girth while his cock spurts watery come. Thor growls a curse and quickly moves his hand back to Loki's hip, fucking into him with a vengeance, grunting with each plunge of his cock. Loki mewls as the friction sends his nerves into overdrive, choking on air when Thor slams in once more. Thor rumbles as he comes, his cock pulsing as it spills copiously inside Loki. Thor tosses his head back, rolling his hips once more to wring out the last of his orgasm before relaxing.

He folds forward instead of pulling out of Loki right away and the kiss they share is more them breathing into each others mouths than an actual kiss, but he likes it anyways. He rolls off Loki a minute later with a sigh. Loki lays there with his legs askew, feeling sticky and oddly empty.

“I did not hurt you, did I?” Thor asks quietly.

“No,” Loki says in a rush of air.

He sees Thor smile from the corner of his eye. He leans forward and presses a kiss to Loki's cheek. Loki slowly pulls his legs together and turns to face him. Thor sits up to grab a blanket folded over the end of the bed and drag it over them before pulling Loki closer. He tucks one arm under Loki's head and the other gets draped around his waist while Loki simply folds his own arms against his chest.

It feels bizarre to be sleeping with someone else all wrapped around him, and all hot and sticky and sore, but he’s just too exhausted to care.

And maybe it feels just a _little_ bit good.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TITLE CHANGE WHOA
> 
> (and I swear, we'll get to the attempted murder in the next part)

Loki wakes to Thor twirling a strand of Loki's hair around his finger. The star-lights are gone so they're plunged in darkness, but he can still vaguely make out Thor's features in it.

“Good morning,” Thor says, voice low and silky. 

“What time is it?” Loki croaks. The skin of his inner thighs stick together as he shifts and stretches.

“Sometime late in the morning, I'd imagine.”

Loki yawns and settles again, lulled as Thor continues to play with his hair.  
At some point, Thor's stomach makes it's needs known, grumbling loudly and making them both laugh.

“I guess one of us was going to have to get up eventually,” Thor sighs. He nuzzles Loki's cheek, his beard rasping his skin.

“I _am_ in dire need of a bath,” Loki says as he reaches up and runs his fingers over Thor's cheek. His facial hair is scratchy and rough, but Loki's not sure whether he entirely dislikes it. It's probably the novelty.

“Would you like me to draw you one?”

“That would be nice.”

Thor presses a kiss to his cheek before crawling out of bed. Light flashes briefly through the curtains as Thor climbs out, nearly blinding Loki with the light. He's fully blinded when Thor begins tying back the curtains. His second day on Asgard is just as sunny as the first.

“ _Augh_.” Loki pulls the blanket over his head for refuge.

Thor chuckles, “sorry.”

He listens as Thor walks away and another door opens, the sound of running water following soon after. He pulls the blanket down just as Thor is walking back in, stark naked. He somehow seems even more confident with his cock swinging about.

What's worse is that Loki blushes despite having that thing in him hours before.

Thor smiles broadly and winks, leaning against one of the bed posts, crossing his arms over his chest. “You're bath will be ready in a few minutes.”

“Thank you,” Loki whispers.

“And there's breakfast for when you're finished,” Thor adds, gesturing towards something on the other side of the bed. Loki twists and sees that on the balcony a small table and pair of chairs have been set up, covered dishes and a jug with one cup beside it set out on top. Draped on the chairs are a pair of silk robes, one gleaming red, the other a rich green that matches the curtains.

“Good,” Loki eeks out. He rolls over and slowly sits up, swinging his slightly sore legs over the edge of the bed. He stands and sits right back down.

Okay, his legs are a little more than _slightly_ sore.

“Ah, sorry,” Thor says as he walks around to the other side of the bed. Thor looks somewhat bashful, but his eyes still hold a _large_ glimmer of pride. “Do you need some assistance?”

“No,” Loki says, trying to sound sure as he tries to stand on his wobbly legs again. Their stiff and ache terribly and he's not sure how's going to be able to walk to the bathroom in a way that doesn't look completely ridiculous.

“The bath should help,” Thor offers, sounding gentle and affectionate again. “And it should be just about full now. Would you like for me to shut the water off?”

He takes a cautious step forward. “Yes, I think that might be a good idea.”

Thor smiles and scampers off back in to the bathroom while Loki makes his way up the small set of low steps that lead to the balcony, grabbing the green robe off the chair and slipping it on his shoulders.

“Your hair has gone a bit wavy,” Thor says as he comes up behind Loki, going to the other chair and moving his robe aside before flopping down on to it.

Loki tucks it back, feeling self conscious under Thor's gaze. “I use a spell to straighten it. Guess it doesn't work against sweat.”

Thor's smile goes crooked, his head tilting as he continues to watch Loki. “I like it.”

“Thank you,” Loki whispers, turning away to hobble to the bathroom.

Loki groans when he sinks under the steaming water, his muscles already loosening. The water smells herbal, something in it opening his lungs and making his skin tingle pleasantly. A potion of some sort, perhaps?

Loki lets out a soft moan as something seeps in to his aching muscles and the soreness dwindles into nothing. So, definitely a potion.

Loki's not sure what to think. That's becoming a regular occurrence when it comes to Thor.

_It's annoying._

He sighs and slips deeper in to the bathwater. He has time. He can settle and get his bearings around Thor. Maybe Thor will grow bored of playing the doting husband soon and his true colors will start to bleed through the glowing veneer he has on right now.

Then he'll _really_ bleed. Or choke, or whatever Loki decides to do to him.

He dozes until the water turns tepid. He pulls himself out of the tub with much more ease than he climbed in with and dries himself off with one of the soft towels set in a pile on a bench near it. 

As he slips his robe back on he takes a quick inventory of the room. It's dripping gold, much like the rest of the palace, covered with mirrors so Loki can see himself in every angle about a dozen times over. A small cabinet hangs beside each of the two sinks, one for each of them. Loki goes to the one with his name on it, finding his toiletries set up tidily inside. He finds the brown leather case and opens it, snatching out one of the vials held inside and uncorking it to drink the potion inside. He hopes Asgard has the proper ingredients for this potion, he thinks as he pops the cap back in and slips the vial back in the case, he'd really rather not have to deal with a pregnancy.

He shudders as he closes the case and slips it back in to the cabinet, turning his attention to the mirror in front of him. He grabs his brush and as he drags it through his unruly hair he utters a spell that smooths out the curls and waves in it. He weaves his collarbone length hair in to a short braid, keeping it in place with a golden clasp. He takes a deep breath and tightens the tie of his robe before heading back out in to the bedroom.

Thor's still naked and lounging at the table, his golden hair glinting in the sunshine. He gives a closed-mouth smile at Loki around a mouthful of some pastry in his hand. “Enjoy your bath?” he asks after he swallows.

“I did,” Loki says as he settles in the seat across from him. “I'm curious about the potion you put in it. It worked very well.”

“It's something the healers to concocted as sort of a wedding gift to us. I'm sure any of them would be happy to tell you how it was made if you'd like to know.”

Loki nods and looks to the food set out on a few platters. “Well, this all looks very indulgent.”

“We are still celebrating, technically.”

Loki hums and reaches across the table to pluck a small roll from one of the plates. “How long will we be celebrating?” he asks. The sticky glaze on it drips slowly to the table as Loki gives it a long, wary look. 

“We have a few more days to ourselves before I have to help my father with the court again,” Thor answers as Loki pops the roll in to his mouth. His eyes go absurdly wide and Thor laughs. “Is it good?”

Loki answers with a moan, eying the rest of them as he chews the roll in his mouth. Thor lets out another soft laugh as he hands the plate to Loki, making him feel warm. 

He shakes himself and swallows before asking, “what are we to do for the next few days, then?” 

Thor smirks, his eyes flicking down to Loki's mouth. “Get better acquainted with each other.”

Loki then realizes he's been sucking the glaze off his fingers and he quickly pulls his hand down. “ _Ah_.”

Thor looks out over the balcony to Asgard, his gentle smile becoming slightly obscured by a few thick tendrils of hair. “Is there anything in particular you'd like to do?”

“Oh, uh, I don't know.”

“That is fine. If there is anything you think of, tell me.”

“Alright,” Loki mumbles, shoving another roll in to his mouth.

Thor stands when there's a knock on the door. Loki can't see whoever is on the other side of it, but he is sure their eyes must be popping from their skull at the sight of their prince nude.

But then, with how at ease Thor is unclothed, maybe they're not.

Thor laughs and thanks them.

“What is it?” Loki asks out of curiosity, licking off more glaze from his fingers.

Thor looks back at him from the door, smiling brightly. “We have gifts!”

Loki raises his eyebrows and stands, walking up behind Thor to look over his shoulder. The foyer is stacked high with decorated packages, only a narrow path free for them to get around to them. They step in carefully, each going in different directions and examining them.

“This seems a bit much,” Loki thinks aloud.

“I think I have to agree with you,” Thor chuckles.

Loki picks up a glass pitcher shaped in to a bird and says to Thor, “what use is this? Honestly?”

Thor just shrugs and goes back to poking around in the piles of boxes.

Loki sets it down and keeps poking at knick-knacks of varying usefulness.

“Oh no! How long have you been stuck here,” Thor coos a few minutes later. 

Loki follows his voice and finds him farther back in to the room. He holds a small bit of white fluff to his chest.

The fluff looks at him with golden eyes and makes a small noise at him. 

Loki looks to Thor in his confusion. “What is that?”

Thor looks at him in equal confusion. “A kitten... Are there no cats in Jotunheim?”

“Apparently not. Why has it been gifted to us?”

“Ah well, there's a bit of a tradition-” There's _that_ word again. “-where a new bride is given a kitten.” Thor shrugs again. “But I think Freya gave her to us because she is very, very fond of cats.”

Loki tilts his head at the kitten. “It looks small and useless.”

Thor covers the kitten's head and coos to it. “Don't listen to him.”

Loki raises his eyebrow at him. He hears his father voice saying the words _blood thirsty tyrant_ over and over in his head as he watches Thor scratch the kitten's chin with one of his fingers, her small mouth scrunching up as he does.

“She's very soft,” Thor says to Loki a moment later, “would you like to feel?”

Loki doesn't get a chance to answer before Thor steps up to him and holds the kitten to his face, her fluffy, pure white fur grazing his cheek.

Loki blinks. “She is quite soft, I guess.”

Thor grins big and bright, bringing the kitten back to his chest and stepping around Loki to head back to the bedroom. 

“We can deal with the rest of this later,” he calls out over his shoulder. The kitten lets out a small mewl.

Loki shakes his head and follows Thor back to the bedroom, shutting the door while Thor sets the kitten on to the floor. It skitters under the couch tucked in to the corner of the room. Thor glances over his shoulder at Loki before strolling to the bed and flopping on to it, pillowing his arms behind his head. Loki walks up more slowly, leaning against the post and trying to not let his eyes drift downwards. 

He fails and Thor smirks at him.

“We have the rest of the day to while away, husband. Is there anything you'd like to do?”

Loki tries to swallow away the dryness in his throat as his gaze skims over over powerful thighs, his sex tingling in anticipation. 

Thor holds his hand out to Loki. Loki steps forwards and takes it, feeling weaker for it.

\- - -

_“You grew attached to it,” his father hisses. He looms over Loki, his hands clasped behind his back.  
_

_The hare's limp body dwarfs Loki's lap, it's pristine white fur stained with red now. Loki lets out a pitiful little sob. He can't stop the tears flowing down his cheeks and he's afraid to look up and see the disapproving look on his father's face.  
_

_“That was a_ test _, Loki, and I expected better.”  
_

_“I'm sorry,” Loki whispers. He's not sure who he's saying it to.  
_

_“You want Asgard to fall, don't you?”  
_

_Loki nods, taking a shaky breath.  
_

_His father scoffs and says nothing more before stomping out of the room. Loki flinches when the door slams shut. Loki takes a deep breath, running his hand down the hare's unmoving flank, smearing the blood on his hand on to it's fur._

\- - -

Thor has Loki practically folded in half, his legs draped over Thor's broad shoulders while one of his own legs is planted on the floor so he can fuck Loki as deep as possible. Loki's seeing sparks with each sharp thrust, and he's hanging on to Thor's tensed arms for dear life.

Loki doesn't notice that servants have come in until they've begun switching out the food, the kitten zipping around their ankles in a panic. His wet, half dazed gasp is lost in a quiet clatter of dishes and the loud slap of skin. Thor seems to be either entirely unaware of their presence, too focused on the task at hand to care, or this is a completely normal occurrence for him.

He doesn't get much time to think about it though, since Thor's mouth is on his a half a second later, his tongue delving as deep in to Loki as his cock.

He doesn't know if the servants are there when he climaxes, breaking apart when Thor takes Loki's cock in his calloused hand while he grinds his hips down, down, _down_ , breathing and grunting like a beast against Loki's neck. Loki's dimly aware of the slick feeling of come spilling out of Thor's cock as his cunt clenches around it and feels a tiny thrill from it. Just a _tiny_ thrill.

Thor slips Loki's legs off his shoulders before he settles on top of him with a satisfied groan, his face buried in the crook of Loki's neck.

Loki chances a look past Thor's shoulder to the balcony and finds the servants gone, the table set up neatly with new covered dishes as the only evidence of their presence at all.

“Thor,” he says, his voice coming out all throaty, “do the servants always just... come in?”

“Huh?” Thor glances to the balcony, taking note of the new dishes. “ _Oh_ \- No, not usually.”

Loki raises an eyebrow at him. Thor shrugs. “We are not expected to do much for a few days, remember?”

“I can request they knock before coming in, if you'd like?” Thor adds, tucking back some his blond hair behind his ear.

Loki resists the urge to squirm. “I think I'd prefer that.”

“Consider it done.” He punctuates his words with a peck on Loki's lips. He disentangles himself from Loki right after, which Loki can't seem to help much with, seeing as his limbs have decided to be completely useless.

Thor, however, seems downright refreshed from their coupling. “How about a bath, husband?”

\- - -

_“-I did manage to take the bastard's eye before he brought me down-”  
_

_Laufey's sons all share a silent sigh at the table, eating a bit faster in hope of being able to leave the table as soon as their father finishes the story of the end of the war.  
_

_“-But soon enough Odin will feel what it is like to have his kingdom torn from beneath his feet.” He laughs, the sound like a glacier as a chunk breaks off of it, the ice scraping and cracking as it falls down the face of it.  
_

_“And you will be the catalyst, little Loki,” Laufey adds, it sounds nearly loving.  
_

_Loki feels something in his stomach twist._

\- - -

“What shall we name her?” Thor asks as they lay in bed. The curtains around the bed are closed, the star-lights glowing above and illuminating Thor as he plays with the kitten between them. He wiggles his fingers and she pounces on them, opening her small jaw wide to to sink the tiniest fangs Loki has ever seen into his fingers. Or try to, at least. They both laugh as she jumps back from his hand, ears plastered down and fur standing on end as she bounces around.

“She is a tiny beast,” Loki says. 

Thor laughs when she attacks again, clinging to his wrist and kicking his fingers with her hid-feet, her small claws barely scratching his skin.

“How about that? _Beast_ ,” Thor suggests, wiggling his hand and riling her up some more.

“She sort of looks like the stuff in those pastries we had with dinner.”

Thor smiles. “The cream puffs?”

“Yes, those.”

“A _beastly_ little _Creampuff_. I like it.”

Loki smiles, looking away from Thor's face, feeling an odd twinge of sadness as the kitten runs in a circle before attacking Thor's hand again.


	3. Chapter 3

Loki is lounging on the couch in the study with Creampuff laid out on his chest, her paws stretched towards his chin, as he half-reads some breathtakingly boring book on obscure Asgardian laws. Most of his attention is focused out past the balcony, on the clouds gently rolling across the sky. He snaps out of his daze when he hears a knocking on the door out in the foyer. 

Setting the book aside and cradling Creampuff in one of his arms, he walks out to answer the door, opening it just as the knocking starts again. Before him stands two young maids, their similarly wheat colored hair woven in to loose braids and though their outfits are relatively plain, they are made of fine fabrics. 

They give him a dutiful curtsy before the one who was doing the knocking speaks, her voice soft and sweet. “Your Highness. Prince Thor has sent us to ask you if you'd join him this evening for dinner out in the gardens.”

Loki blinks at the girl. “We... always dine together?”

The girl glances back at her companion, who shrugs. He finally notices the box she has in her hands. The first girl turns back to him and says, “I think he means to make it a more special occasion, sir.”

Loki raises his eyebrows in understanding. “ _Ah_.”

The other girl steps forward, holding the box out to Loki. “He also wanted us to give you this. He said that he'd like for you to wear it tonight.”

“But he also said that it would be fine if you did not wish to wear it, though,” the first girl quickly adds.

Loki takes the wide, flat box, gauging it's weight with one hand. There's a few moments where he and the two maids stand awkwardly at either side of the door before Loki finally realizes he needs to give an answer. “Well then, tell Thor I will see him at dinner.”

Both girls smile and nod, giving him another curtsy before running off. Loki kicks the door shut and sets Creampuff the ground, which earns him a annoyed mew, and examines the box. It's plain wood is shellacked to a glossy shine, the clasp a shiny bit of gold. He walks in to the bedroom, cat at his heels, and sits on the couch in there to open it. 

Inside, the box is lined with shiny red silk – there to protect the garments it holds. The first item he pulls out is a piece of jewelery, a golden bangle shaped in to a snake, it's eyes a pair of green gems. He slips it on immediately, though it's far too big for his wrist. He slides it up his arm further, until it's hugged snugly around his bicep. The next item he pulls out is a sleeveless tunic. It's sheer fabric is in Loki's favored shade of green, draping prettily around the neckline. It comes with a matching pair of linen breeches and Loki can't help but notice how Thor has chosen light, airy fabrics.

Though the spell placed on Loki's skin before his wedding keeps him from withering away in Asgard's climate, he is still not used to it, and given that it is creeping in to summer here it is all too easy for sweat to bloom on his forehead or upper lip. It does not help that Asgardians seem to have a fascination with all things leather and metal, meaning more than half his new outfits feel as though they are aiming to suffocate him. Thor seems to have taken notice.

And now he feels warm despite the fact that he's forgone a shirt today.

\- - -

Loki is led by a page out to the gardens, through a winding path in a patch of trees to a small clearing where a gazebo sits. It's lit by little star-like lights similar to the ones above their bed. Loki gives the page a small thanks and the boy scampers off. Thor is in the gazebo already, moving the place settings a bit with his back turned to Loki. Thor's stripped down a bit himself, his cape and armor shucked for a tight fitting tunic that shows off his bulky arms, his hair pulled in to a loose plait. He turns as Loki walks up the the couple steps, giving him a huge grin.

“Good evening, husband,” he greets brightly, taking Loki's hand to kiss his knuckles. His eyes flit downwards, obviously taking in how Loki has worn the outfit he's gifted him, his eyes sparkling even more for it.

Loki quickly looks away to take in their surroundings, at the small table and pair of chairs. “What's all this for?”

Still holding Loki's hand, Thor guides Loki to take one of the seats, sitting in the other beside him, and says, “we may be married, but that is no reason to not start courting you.”

Loki feels his cheeks flush. Thor looks away, smiling softly as he pours out wine in to the two glasses.

“And I feel that I have been a bit neglectful to you these past few weeks,” he says as he hands one of them it to Loki. “While I may be preparing to take the throne I should not let those duties make me forget the ones I have as your husband.”

“You may be spending most of your days attending to the court and whatever else it is you do with the Allfather but I'd hardly call you _neglectful_ ,” Loki says. _If the pleasant ache you leave between my legs every morning is any indication_ , he thinks to himself.

Thor shrugs and spreads himself out in his chair, sipping on his wine in time with Loki. They sit quietly for a while, watching warm, gentle breezes blow through the leaves. The same breezes blow against his tunic, the fabric rustling over his skin like the lightest caress.

“You noticed my issue with the heat,” he blurts out.

The corner of Thor's mouth quirks up and he shrugs again. Then, he rakes his eyes over Loki and asks, “do you like it?”

Loki shifts under the scrutiny. “I do.”

“It looks even lovelier on you than I expected.”

That's it. He is killing Thor tonight.

They converse with ease as they eat their dinner, finishing the wine as they let the night's cooler air wash over them. There's a sort of panicky flutter to Loki's heartbeat. He glances to Thor and notices the slight sheen of sweat on his skin, which along with the subtle glow from the magic lights, makes him look like he's cast in gold. 

Thor looks over and smiles softly, his hand on Loki's gives a gentle squeeze as he asks, “shall we head back to our rooms?”

“Yes,” Loki replies. It feels surreal how his entire life has been leading up to these moments. They walk back to their rooms hand in hand, the familiarity of it making the food in Loki's belly churn unpleasantly. 

“Perhaps a cool bath?” Loki asks as they walk in to their bedroom. His voice sounds smoother than he expected. 

Thor grins. “That sounds like a wonderful idea.”

Loki smiles back and lets Thor kiss him before he goes to the bathroom.

_Now, how to do it_ , he thinks as he turns on the faucet. He looks out the door just in time to watch Thor walk to the balcony, his gait slow and lazy.

_That's it!_ He walks out the bathroom, his body and mind two separate things. The padding of his footsteps are disguised by the running water. _The wine must have been too strong. I was filling the tub I have no idea how it happened. He was there one second, gone the other._ The excuses flit through his head while the world around him slows down and fuzzes around the edges. Thor leans against the railing, bent over it slightly, his back to Loki. Just a bit of momentum is all he'll need. He eyes the strap-y bits of Thor's boots, bending and hooking each foot with a couple fingers and then _yanks_.

Loki stands there, panting as though he's just been running for his life. Thor didn't even make a sound. He flinches at the thud. Out the corner of his eye he sees the cat watching him.

“Don't give me that look. I told you this was going to happen eventually.”

He hears a groan.

Running to the railing he looks down and sees Thor lying in a small crater in the grass. 

“ _Thor!?_ ”

Thor laughs. He sits up and shakes the dirt from his hair while four guards come running.

_How._

A couple of the guards help him off the ground and hold him up. Thor looks up and Loki can see his stupid grin from here. “I think the wine may have been a little stronger than I thought,” he shouts up. 

Loki stares at the crater he left behind in utter shock as the guards drag him back in to the palace.

_How?_

\- - - 

_“What happens if I get caught,” Loki asks over breakfast one day, hating how the silence hangs after he asks. Loki looks away as Laufey stares at him over the rim of his cup.  
_

_Loki becomes more and more unnerved the longer his father give him no answer.  
_

_“I will let Asgard decide what to do with you.”  
_

_“Ah,” is all Loki manages to say, his hand trembling as he pokes at his breakfast. His stomach feels too upset to finish eating it._

\- - -

He waits a couple weeks before making his next attempt. Just long enough for Loki to get over the shock of the first attempt not working.

He plans ahead this time.

They are going to have lunch in their bedroom. The table is set up on the balcony. The day is as perfect and sunny and hot as it always is in Asgard. This is part of the reason that he has forgone pants for the occasion. He figures Thor will also be distracted by Loki's bared legs as he downs his poisoned mead.

“ _Left cup, left cup, left cup, left cup_ ,” he mutters to himself as he taps some of the powder in to the amber liquid. Thor barges in as Loki feeds Creampuff a little bit of meat, just to get her to quit whining and trying to jump on the table.

“This surprise just keeps getting better,” Thor says as his eyes rake over Loki.

Loki stands from where he'd been crouching on the floor, tucking his incessantly curling hair behind his ear, tugging on the long tunic. 

Thor marches up and sweeps Loki in to a deep kiss – the only kind Thor can seem to give – before he asks, “what's the reason for all this, anyways?”

Loki shrugs, still bound up in Thor's massive arms. “Just wished to see my husband.”

Thor grins broader, kissing Loki hard once more before taking his hand. Loki leads him to the table, guiding him to the chair next to the left cup.

He yelps as Thor drags him in to his lap. Well, he didn't quite want to be on Thor when he died, but he can work with this. He leans and grabs both their cups – _left, left, left_ – and hands the tainted one to Thor. Thor's eyes continue to rake over Loki as he does this. He can't help but feel squirmy when Thor looks at him like that.

Thor smiles crookedly, bringing the cup to his lips as he says, “you are truly a gorgeous creature.” His hand stills with the brim of the cup to his lips, his eyes catching as Loki crosses his legs, the tunic slipping up his thighs with the movement.

“What is it, husband?” Loki asks, glancing back and forth between the cup and Thor's lips, willing him to take a drink of it. The hand that had been resting on Loki's hip falls to his ass, cupping it greedily while he pulls the cup farther from his mouth. Thor's eyes have gone dark, filled with unrestrained lust as they take Loki in now.

“I suddenly find myself hungry for something that food or drink cannot satisfy,” Thor rumbles, his voice going straight between Loki's legs. Loki gapes as Thor tosses the mead to the floor, spilling it all over the floor. Creampuff skitters under the bed when Thor clears the table with a broad sweep of his arm before picking Loki up and setting him upon it.

_Perhaps_ , Loki muses as Thor parts his knees, _he should have worn pants._

\- - -

“So, how has the day been treating you?” Frigga asks as they stroll the grounds of the palace.

Loki's father hadn't even mentioned Frigga in all his years of training, and when he had finally met her a few days after the wedding he hadn't a clue about what to expect. He quickly found out that she was just as kind as Thor, though greatly less overwhelming in her displays of it.

“It treats me well, aside from the heat of course,” he replies. He's wearing another flowy tunic and linen breeches that Thor has acquired for him, but the thick air still makes his skin sticky with sweat. 

She frowns. “I hope you can adjust. But if the issue persists I'm sure we can figure out a spell of some sort to provide you some comfort.”

“That is alright,” he says quietly. The seemingly unflagging kindness given to him is still off putting at times – even a few months in to this marriage. 

She smiles up at him, patting his forearm lightly. “You have no reason to be shy around me, darling.”

Loki lets out a quiet, nervous laugh. He spends a few days of every week with her. She's been helping him adjust and learn Asgard's mores and laws and what will be expected of him as Thor's spouse when he becomes king. It's a strange position to be in, plotting the death of someone and spending so much time with their mother. He tries not to dwell on it.

They don't talk of anything of particular importance today. She mainly explains some of the different festivals they have throughout the summer months.

“We'll be having a feast on the solstice. Your father will be attending this year, so you'll get to see him again.”

Frigga must notice how Loki's face go slack, concern etching lines on her forehead. “Is that a problem?”

Loki clears his throat, forcing a smile on to his face. “No, it's wonderful.”

Frigga looks unconvinced, but drops the subject. 

They walk in silence for a while longer before coming up upon the training grounds. One of the rings in particular is surrounded by bystanders in various states of griminess.

“Thor must be sparring today,” Frigga says offhand. He follows her to the ring, the people clearing space for them as soon as they see who it is.

Thor is indeed sparring. Shirtless and sweat-soaked, he beats down his opponent bare handed, though it is obvious he is holding back. Asgardian sparring sessions must be much more friendly than Jotunheim's. Thor spots the two of them as he throws his hands up in victory and the small crowd cheers. 

His grin is blazing as he walks up to them, giving them a small bow of his head rather than his usual, more physical, greetings. 

“It's nice to see you here,” he says, barely panting just after the fight. 

“We happened to be passing by and noticed the crowd,” Frigga says, “have you been amusing your audience?”

“Very much,” Thor says proudly. He turns his focus on to Loki, his smile turning a little softer, sweeter, as he give Loki a quiet hello.

Loki can feel the eyes of the crowd falling on them and the skin on the back of his neck prickles. “Hello.”

There are few whistles from the crowd and Thor rolls his eyes.

“Does the Jotun fight?” Someone calls out. Thor's brow furrows and he glances around, a stiffness descending on his shoulders.

“I do, actually,” Loki answers absentmindedly. 

Thor looks back at him with a surprised expression. “Really? You have never mentioned it.”

Loki shrugs, stammering as he answers with, “I had been told you'd find it unbecoming.”

“You were told wrong,” Thor chuckles. He pauses for a second to look around at the crowd, silent as they watch the princes speak, before looking back to Loki. He smiles and throws his arms out in a broad, casual gesture as he asks, “well? Care to spar?”

Loki's mouth hangs open, his eyes glancing down at Thor's sweaty torso as he wonders in the back of his mind how this day has veered off in such a strange direction. When he glances to Frigga he just gets another smile and a shrug of decoratively armored shoulders. 

“Alright,” he says. He pulls of his filmy top and hands it to Frigga while the crowd give a cheer, tugging off his boots before stepping inside the ring. The white dirt lining it puffs under his feet as he slowly walks around it. Thor rolls his shoulders where he stands towards the middle, his mouth still curved in a a small grin.

“I may be a bit rusty,” Loki calls out. It's true, he hasn't trained since he left Jotunheim and just standing here makes him feel out of practice.

“Is that a roundabout way of asking me to go easy on you?” Thor teases, planting his feet in the dirt and his hands on his narrow hips, a thick eyebrow rising.

Loki feels himself smile a little as he takes a spot across from Thor, just a few feet away. “No, I just mean to warn youthat I may be sloppy and could accidentally- what might your people say?- hit Asgard's _most prized jewels_.”

The crowd hoots and laughs. Thor does too, cupping himself for good measure. “The words _alone_ hurt me.”

Loki smirks and then someone calls out, “quit _flirting_ and _fight_ already!”

Loki feels his face go hot, his eyes darting from Thor out to the crowd.

“Then someone give the count!” Thor shouts back.

Another voice from the sidelines, one of the Thor's friends – the rotund redheaded one – yells, “three... two... _one!_ ”

Loki moves lightly over the dirt. He feels off. He's never fought purely for the fun of it, with others around to watch, the intent not to kill. He and Thor walk around each other in circles. He's gauging Loki as much as Loki gauges him. His father's voice swirls in his head – kill or be killed and all the other phrases he's ever shouted at Loki. 

Thor strikes when the crowd starts to get antsy, the swing of his arm throwing Loki's mind in to the fight. He grabs Thor's wrist and wrenched Thor's whole arm behind his back as he spins around on the ball of his foot. In that second the crowd becomes a haze, their caterwauling white noise in Loki's head as he feels himself becoming lighter, his body taking over and preforming moves he could never remember _not_ knowing. 

Thor spins around, swinging his other fist and sinking the punch in Loki's side. Loki wheezes as the air leaves his lungs, letting go of Thor's wrist to swing his elbow in an arc, Thor's nose cracking under the bone as it slams in to his face. Thor stumbles back, dazed, blinking rapidly as he touches one of his bleeding nostrils. The feral grin that curls Thor's lips when he sees the blood on his finger makes warmth slither deep in Loki's belly. Loki charges, only to be shoved back violently, losing his breath again as his back collides with the ground. Thor's on top of him before he can get it back, pinning Loki's wrists to the ground beside his ears.

“Yield?” Thor asks, the gruff edge to his voice sends another dose of heat in his belly that makes Loki's hips twitch. 

Instead of answering, he wraps his legs around Thor's waist, yanks him down so Loki can headbutt his already aching nose. Thor rolls off with a howl of pain, cupping his dirty hands over his face while Loki rolls to his feet.

Loki walks around him, keeping himself out of easy grabbing range. “And I was told you were the best warrior in Asgard. I can't imagine how bad an average warrior would be.”

Thor lets out a breathy laugh as he rolls to his hands and knees. “You beautiful wretch.”

Loki tips his chin up, looking down his nose at Thor. “Fight me, husband.”

There’s another vicious grin on Thor's face as he gets on his feet, shoulders squaring before he charges, managing to barrel in to Loki before he can step out of range. They land heavily on the ground just beside the short stone wall that lines the ring, their fight becoming a blur of fists and kicks, one rolling the other on to their back only to be overtaken a second later. More and more of Loki's body begins to hurt, sharp aches that make him scream and fight harder, always striving to get a matching scream from Thor.

He rolls Thor under him, his hands wrapped around Thor's throat, his father's voice in his head urging him to kill him – kill him!

“Yield,” Thor huffs, tugging at Loki wrists, bringing Loki back all at once. He's quick to pull his hands back, eyes darting to the crowd – who've seemed to gone silent in shock – while Thor takes big gulps of air beneath him.

“ _Loki_ ,” Thor groans softly. Loki becomes acutely aware of the hardness pressing between his thighs and he presses his hips down against it, his own arousal making itself known with small gush of wetness. 

Thor rumbles, rolling up with a surprising amount of ease and keeping Loki held tightly against his chest as they stand. His blue eyes are swamped by his pupils, looking hungrily at Loki as he holds out one of his hands in the air, the handle of his hammer smacking in to his palm a second later. 

“Hang on,” he orders, the gravel in his voice sending a chill through Loki as he grabs on to Thor. He spins and flings the hammer, dragging them out of the ring and through air without another word. Loki can't even fully appreciate the fact that he's _flying_ , so distracted he is by the blood, sweat, and dirt coating Thor's skin. 

They land on the balcony of their bedroom with little grace, their lips and aching bodies crashing together the moment they land. The hammer lands on the stone with a dull thump, leaving both of Thor's hands free to tear away the linen breeches and press Loki to the nearest wall. Loki wedges his hands between their bodies to rip open the lacing of Thor's leather trousers and release his cock. Thor wraps Loki's thighs around his waist before taking hold of his hips to slide him down the length of his cock in one smooth motion. Thor wastes no time and pounds in to Loki viciously, the mix of pain and pleasure so overwhelming that he can do nothing but scream Thor's name, his nails raking bloody trails over Thor's skin. Thor growls in to Loki's neck, accentuating it with bites that break skin.

They come simultaneously, crying each others names in to the air, bodies relaxing to the point that the pillar is the only thing keeping them upright.

“My nose hurts,” Thor pants, his head still tucked against Loki's neck.

Loki reaches up to touch along his other shoulder, hissing in pain. “I think my collarbone is broken.

“Sorry,” Thor says with a breathless laugh, pressing a light kiss to Loki's cheek. “We should go to the healers now.”

\- - - 

Loki slips a sleeping potion in to Thor's wine as Thor fills the bath for them. He pours the whole vial in just to make sure. Loki lays against his chest as they laze about in the warm water, listening to Thor drink the whole glass down.

Thor hums and leans his head on Loki's, his hands holding Loki's waist. It only takes moments for Thor to slip in to a deep slumber, his hands floating away from Loki. Loki climbs out of the tub and watches Thor slide under the water, a few bubbles gurgling up in his wake.

He'll need to wait a few minutes, at least. Maybe a half hour, given Thor's _extraordinary_ inability to die thus far.

He turns away and begins combing out his hair when the water sloshes and there's a loud gasp. Loki spins on his heal to see Thor sitting up, a sleepy, but confused, expression on his face.

“ _Dammit._ ”

\- - -

They walk hand in hand down the streets of Asgard one evening. Thor thought it might be nice to get away from the palace for a night, since they've spent the majority of the last four months barely beyond it's grounds. Loki does like the idea of some new scenery.

The streets bustle with people finishing up the last work for the day, preparing food, or simply getting rowdy. The mood is pleasant and upbeat and Loki finds himself smiling at it all without realizing.

“Shall we?” Thor asks as they come up to one of the many taverns that line the street. Loki shrugs. 

Thor squeezes his hand, grinning as he leads Loki inside. There's a short, portly woman leaning against the wall near the entryway, silver hair pulled up in a bun and her apron layered with stains. She's watching the three-man band playing in the opposite corner, not noticing their presence until Thor clears his throat. 

“Oh damn,” she hisses, smoothing out her apron and hair as she stands. She smiles brightly, giving them a curtsy. “How may I help your highnesses?”

“A table for the evening would be nice,” Thor answers. Something in the words seems overly rehearsed, and Loki can't help but rolls his eyes at how Thor has likely planned the whole evening out.

“Oh I think we've got the perfect place for you two, just follow me.”

He lets Thor guide him, his hand pressed lightly to the small of of Loki's back as they weave through the crowded floor to a small set of stairs. They lead to a second floor balcony, a lone table a pair of chairs already dressed up with a few candles and a couple glasses of wine. It's secluded enough to be somewhat private without being totally cut off from the atmosphere of the rest of the tavern. The woman waits for them to settle before telling them her daughter will be up to serve them shortly, scurrying down the stairs right after.

Loki watches Thor out of the corner of his eye as he sips on the wine, a smirk curling his lips.

“What?”

Loki shrugs a shoulder. “Seems _strange_ how they had a table like this already set up, wine and all... _Almost_ like they _expected_ a couple of princes to show up.”

Thor chuckles and shakes his head, spinning the stem of his wine glass between his fingers. “I told her not to set out the wine.”

Loki's smirk grows. Thor kicks his foot under the table.

“We're already married, you don't have to try so hard.”

“ _Ah_ , but I think that means that I should try _harder_.”

Loki can't think of a response other than rolling his eyes at him again. The girl pops up a second later, heavy looking tray in hand. She sets down plate after plate of bite sized food Loki doesn't recognize, but it smells good enough to try.

“May we have something a little stronger?” Thor asks, gesturing with his glass of wine.

“Of course, your highness,” the girl says with a nod. She looks like a slimmer, blonder version of her mother.

“Wanting to get me drunk, husband?” Loki teases. He picks up something with a brownish crust, eyebrows rising in pleasant surprise as he bites in to it.

“I want to get _both_ of us drunk,” Thor teases back with a wink. 

The girl comes up with a tray full of tiny glasses full of a blueish liquid, setting them down near the edge of the table.

“If you need anything, I'll be at the bottom of the stairs, so just shout.”

“Thank you,” they say simultaneously.

Loki pick up one of the glasses, narrowing his eyes at the contents.

Thor picks one of his own, holding out towards Loki. “Cheers?”

“Cheers,” Loki says, pressing the rim of the glass to his lip and tipping his head back. The tooth-aching sweetness of the booze briefly distracts from the burn as it slithers down his throat. He makes a face and coughs, setting the glass back on the table. “Oh, that's an _awful_ little concoction.”

Thor laughs, though his face was just as contorted as Loki's. “It becomes more appetizing the more more to you drink it,” he says as he picks up another tiny glass.

“I cannot believe that for a second,” Loki says, plucking one of the many snacks on the table and tossing it in to his mouth to clear the taste of the liquor from his tongue.

“Then see for yourself, husband,” Thor counters with the little glass held out to 

Loki, a look in in his eyes Loki recognizes from when they sparred.

Loki smirks. “Is that a challenge?” 

“I wish to see if you drink as well as you fight,” Thor says, voice low.

Loki takes the glass from Thor, holding it close to his lips as Thor takes another for himself. “And why does it interest you so much to know such things?” he asks before tipping his head back and letting the drink slide down his throat.

Thor only glances at him from the table, the smile that forms on his face small but brimming with feeling. “Because I'm beginning to think my father might have found the perfect spouse for me.”

Loki chokes, sputtering as Thor chuckles and downs his own shot.

They're giggly and loose in the limbs as they finish their third tray of shots. They toss their bite-sized food in to each other's mouths, missing well over half the time, and talk about everything and nothing at the same time.

“What about your … _mother?_ ” Thor says at some point, his brows furrowed as he leans over the table, his head perched in one of his palms. “I've never heard of Laufey having a spouse.”

“Ah, well, _Laufey_ is the one who birthed me and my brothers. I've never known who sired me.” Loki guesses they were put to death after his birth for giving the king such weak, useless offspring.

Thor's eyes go wide and he coughs as he chokes on the air.

Loki cackles as Thor tries to right himself. “ _Surprised_ , husband?”

Thor clears his throat and blinks, laughing softly. “Yes, though I probably shouldn't be.”

Loki watches as Thor's gaze goes distant his face twisting in to a cringe. “What?”

“I cannot stop imagining Laufey waddling around with a giant belly.”

Loki laughs, the image as foreign to Loki as it is to Thor, most likely. 

“Can you imagine me pregnant?” The question slips past Loki's lips without a thought. Thor sputters again, his cheeks turning a deeper shade of pink as his eyes bounce between Loki face and where his belly is hidden behind the table.

“Another drink?” Thor asks, hastily pushing one of the filled glasses closer to Loki. 

Loki grins victoriously, taking the glass and gulping down it's contents, Thor doing the same. 

Loki gets up and sits in Thor's lap, the chair creaking under their combined weight, draping his arms around Thor's shoulders. Loki smirks, nuzzling his cheek against Thor's. It's thrilling, having this little bit of an upper-hand on Thor, for once having Thor be the one to overwhelmed and red in the face. It makes Loki want to keep playing. 

“ _Can you_ , Thor?” he asks with his lips pressed to the shell of Thor's ear, voice low and sultry, “me walking around the palace with my belly _big_ with your child? _Everyone_ in the kingdom knowing that _you_ put it there?”

A tiny, strained whine rises from Thor's throat, the hands on Loki's thigh and waist tightening. 

“You _do_ , don't you?” Loki chuckles, squeezing his thighs together as he feels a pulse between them. “Do you hope while we fuck that _this_ will be the time it happens?”

“ _Loki_ ,” Thor whimpers, “if you are not careful I may have to fuck you right here.”

Loki shivers, reaching down between them to cup the hard length tenting Thor's leather trousers. They both moan. Loki pulls them open with one unsteady hand, grasping Thor's cock and stroking it. One of Thor's hand quickly makes it's way to the opening of Loki's trousers, pulling it open and stroking his cock it until Loki's toes curl inside his boots.

“Open your legs a bit,” Thor whispers gruffly in to Loki's ear. Loki bites his lip and whines as he does what he is told, giving Thor's hand enough space to slip deeper in to his trousers, his fingers sliding along the wet lips of Loki's cunt. Loki pants in to Thor's ear, his spine going rigid when Thor groans and sinks two fingers inside him. Loki grinds his hips as Thor works his fingers in and out of Loki in small motions, his own hand going faster on Thor's cock. They pant and let out broken moans against each others cheeks as their hands move frantically.

Loki writhes in Thor's lap as his fingers rub incessantly against the front wall of his cunt, that along with his cock gushing as he climaxes. He gives Thor's cock a squeeze, teasing the crown with each upstroke until Thor stutters out Loki's name and seed spills out on his hand.

They slouch in the chair, trying to catch their breath and slow their heartbeats. Thor's hand is drenched when he tugs it free from between his legs, and Loki can see that his trousers are a mess. Thor slips his fingers in to his mouth, sucking them clean as he always does when he fingers Loki. It wrings a moan of pleasure from Loki's throat every time. Thor seems to genuinely enjoy his taste, and never wastes an opportunity to sample it.

Loki lifts his own hand, spattered with Thor's creamy seed. It occurs to him that while Thor never goes a day without having a taste of Loki, Loki has never tasted Thor. He glances to Thor, sees him watching Loki through lidded eyes, and their gazes lock as he swipes his tongue over the mess. Salty, Loki thinks, strong comes to mind for some reason as well. Thor's eyes go dark, his nostrils flaring and grip on Loki's waist tightening. Loki grins and takes another long lick.

“We need to get back to the palace – now.”

\- - -

Loki's fingers fumble on the ties of the vambrace. He hisses in annoyance on the third try, tossing the infernal thing to the floor.

“May I assist?” Thor asks gently. 

“Fine,” Loki snaps back.

Thor picks up the vambrace from the floor and tugs Loki's wrist forward. Loki glances at himself in the mirror as Thor ties it on. He's dressed in armor for the feast, Thor is as well, and while the outfit is stifling, he knows it's not what is making Loki's lungs feel constricted.

“You look wonderful,” Thor says, looking up with a soft smile. He pats Loki's wrist when he's done tying on the first vambrace, grabbing the second one to fasten to Loki's other arm.

Loki just nods at the compliment, not sure if his voice would work if he were to speak.

“It is not just the feast itself that is making you nervous,” Thor says as he finishes with the other vambrace. He keeps his gentle grip on Loki's wrist, pinning him there in place. Loki looks away to an invisible spot on the wall as Thor stares at him, searching. 

“Is it your father?”

“I'm _fine_ ,” Loki whispers, pulling his hand out of Thor's grasp. He tries to walk around him, only to get caught by one of Thor's arms and pulled in to a gentle embrace. “I'm fine,” Loki repeats as Thor presses his lips to Loki's temple.

Loki manages to plaster on a smile before they enter the feast, wining and dining and laughing with Thor's friends and nobles. He knows that Thor knows he's putting up a front though, his eyes filling with concern when no one else can see. His hand is resting on the small of Loki's back when his father and a few other Jotuns enter the hall, so he feels how Loki's spine goes stiff at the sight. He turns to Loki to ask what's wrong, his eyes falling on Laufey before he has the chance, and goes quiet with understanding.

Loki forces on another smile and says for the millionth time that night - “I'm fine.”

Thor's mouth twists in to a frown.

“I should go and greet him,” Loki says, dread making his stomach heavy. 

“Do you want me to-”

“No,” Loki interrupts sternly. Thor exhales through his nose before nodding. He pulls Loki close, squeezing him around the waist and pecking the corner of his lips before letting him go.

Loki moves through the crowd with more ease than he truly feels, going to where his father and the other nobles with him sit at the sidelines. 

Loki bows. “Good to see you, father.”

Laufey just glances around the hall before grunting, “take me somewhere private where we can speak.”

Loki swallows. He nods his head and walks towards one of the doorways, his father following close behind. He leads them through a few halls to find one of the least used corridors, where no guards are stationed at the moment. He gathers up his courage and finally looks up at his father.

He wishes he hadn't when he sees the look on Laufey's face.

“Been having fun playing house and wetting the princes cock?”

Loki cringes at his father's words and his deceptively light tone. “No.”

“It's nearly been half a year since the wedding, and Thor appears to be very much alive.”

Loki's hands clench in to fists at his sides. “I've been _trying_ -”

“Trying!?” Laufey snarls, bending forward to get in Loki's face. Loki's head knocks in to the wall behind him. “I didn't teach you to _try_ to kill him, _did I?_ ”

Loki shakes his head and whispers, “no, father.”

“Correct. And what did I tell you would happen if you failed me?” he asks, head tilting slightly.

Loki let out a shuddering breath, his eyes to the floor. “You'd do what you should have done when you gave birth to me.”

“Don't forget it.”

Head still bowed down, Loki says, “I won't, father.”

\- - -

“Why have you been so kind to me?” Loki asks after they return to their rooms. Thor is helping him out of his armor. His hands don't linger in the way they usually do, there are no teasing caresses as more of his skin is revealed. He grips Loki's waist firmly, sweeps his hands down Loki's bare arms, a dry kiss is placed on each of his shoulders. It relaxes Loki, rather than working him up.

They left the feast early, just after his father left, Thor leading him out of the hall with out a word. Loki hasn't spoken much at all since returning from the conversation with his father. Thor didn't pry, staying silent with him as they walked down the halls. 

Thor looks a little surprised at the question, not answering right away. He finishes helping Loki undress first. Loki sits down on their bed, petting the cat as she sleeps while Thor works on his own outfit.

“I've always known, at least _somewhat_ , that my spouse would be chosen for me,” He starts, pacing slowly at the end of the bed. “Even if it were not to be an explicitly arranged marriage, there would have been some underlying political reason for me to marry someone.”

Thor sighs, hands falling to his sides. “It made me angry when I was younger, not having any real hand in my fate. I was to get married to whoever my parents decided was best and become the good king everyone expected of me.” 

Thor shakes his head and laughs as he strips off the last bits of his clothes. He comes to sit beside Loki, their thighs touching. “I may have lashed out a _bit_ , going off with my friends _fight_ and-” Thor glances at him, looking a bit bashful as he finishes with, “ _fuck_ everything.”

“What changed?”

Thor shrugs, the light of the fire reflecting gold in his eyes as they look in to Loki's. “I'm not sure. I grew up, I guess. Realized that I wasn't going to be the only one in a marriage they didn't choose, and decided that I should at least do whatever I could to make the experience not miserable for either of us.”

Loki looks away, to stare at the fire itself, almost wanting to go up and let the orange flames lick at his palm. “And when you found out you were to be married to a Jotun?”

“I will admit, I was a bit wary when my father told me,” Thor says with a soft laugh, “but he took pity on me and let me sit on his throne so I could get a glimpse of you.”

Loki swallowed, trying to keep his breath steady as his mind reeled. _Did Odin know?_

“I saw you sitting out in the snow with a big fur wrapped around your shoulders. You looked so... _lost_. I knew from your expression that this was not what you would have chosen as well. And I knew I needed to do all that I could to make you happy.”

A lump forms in Loki's throat, blinking when his vision blurs. Hot tears roll down his cheeks. Thor gently takes Loki's chin between his fingers to turn Loki's face back towards his and sweeps them away with his thumb. He cups the back of Loki's neck, pulling him close and kissing his damp cheek as he settles them back against the pillows. Loki buries his face in the crook of Thor's neck, shutting his eyes tight and willing the overwhelming stir of emotions in him to stop.

\- - -

Frigga decides to take Loki to the throne room one day, where Thor and Odin are presiding over hearings, where people of all classes and backgrounds come and bicker at the foot of the Allfather. Some come to settle disputes over land, businesses, money... But it seems most come here to settle petty fights.

Loki watches his husband standing just to the side of Odin, a foot propped up on the bottom step of the throne and a hand on his hip. Thor looks down at the two squabbling farmers with a stern expression that mirrors his father's. He looks regal. _Kingly_.

As if feeling Loki's eyes upon him, Thor's gaze shifts to him. The look on his face melts in to a sweet smile that makes Loki feel fluttery.

Frigga snickers beside him and he looks away, feeling his cheeks heat.

Thor bends and speaks in to Odin's ear. Whatever he says makes Odin roll his eye, a fond smile on his face as he waves Thor away. Without a word Thor marches down the steps of the throne, right to where he and Frigga stand at the front of the crowd. He greets them both with pecks to their cheeks. 

“Skipping out on your responsibilities just because you happened to catch sight of your beloved?” Frigga teases.

Thor winks. “Of course.” He looks to Loki then, raising an eyebrow at him. “May I steal you away?”

Loki glances to Frigga, who knocks her hip in to his with a smile. Loki holds his hand out to Thor, who kisses it before pulling him from the crowd. He leads them to one of the exits towards the back of the hall. It leads to a smaller, secluded corridor and they walk arm-in-arm down it.

“What do you think of leaving the palace for a week?” Thor asks. “Just the two of us in, _say_ , a cozy little cabin hidden away in the mountains, where we can do nothing but eat, sleep, and have sex?”

Loki laughs, “I'd think you already have it all planned out, don't you?”

“I might have,” Thor says with a mischievous grin.

Loki hums as though he actually has to think deeply on it. “When could we leave?”

Thor stops them in the middle of the hall, turning Loki to face and hug him around the waist. “We could go back to our rooms, pack up a bag – though I _don't_ think clothes will be necessary – and leave _right now_.”

Loki taps a finger on his chin, looking at some spot past Thor's shoulder before asking, “and what about Creampuff?”

“Already have someone who will come and make sure she is not lonely or hungry while we are gone,” Thor answers instantly.

Loki stares at Thor's face. He hears his fathers voice distantly in his mind, but the gentle, loving smile on Thor's face makes it melt away.

“Then I say... lets go.”


	4. Chapter 4

Thor's been gone for nearly a month for a political expedition in Alfheim, leaving Loki to while away the days in the palace. He's been spending most of his free time with Frigga, just to help pass the time. Her company hasn't kept him from growing antsier over the past week though, a gruff voice in the back of his head reminding him of his father's growing anger the longer Loki goes on with out killing Thor.

There's also a slightly more selfish reason he wishes Thor would just get back already.

His mind continually drifts back to their little trip the month before Thor's departure. They spent the majority of it in bed, hardly spending a moment not entwined with one another. Loki feels a tingle under his skin as he remembers the feeling of Thor's cock sliding in and out of him. He takes a deep breath and taps his foot at a rapid pace as he stares at the unread pages of a book.

“You know, Thor should be getting back anytime now. We could go to the Bifrost and wait for his return?” Frigga asks. There is a knowing look on her face when he looks up at her.

Loki huffs and closes his book, hating that he's let his impatience get the better of him. “Alright.”

\- - -

_Loki looks down at the pile of silky black hair in his lap._

_He is officially betrothed to Thor, his wedding only a year away-_

_“-and you go and do this!?” his father snaps as he paces aback and forth before Loki._

_His father told him the news, gleeful of how his plan was finally set in motion. Loki had gone numb. He went back to his chambers to follow the motions of doing his chores. It was as he sharpened his knives at his vanity that he had gotten the urge. He froze in place, staring at his reflection._

_He doesn't even remember hacking in to it. It was as though one moment he was looking at himself, and the next he was looking at his once waist-length hair spread out on his lap and the floor. The blunt ends tickling as they brush the sides of his neck._

_Loki's attention is snapped back to the present as he father growls and chucks something past him, forcing Loki to dodge it._

_“Well!? What do you have to say for yourself!?”_

_Loki bows his head. “I don't know what I was thinking.”_

_Laufey scoffs, “_ thinking _, sometimes I doubt whether you think at all.”_

_“I'm sorry father.”_

_Laufey scoffs again. “You just better hope Odin's son will find you at all pleasing to look at now.”_

_Loki nods._

_“Get out of my sight,” his father growls, turning away from Loki and walking back to his throne._

_Loki sniffs wetly and clutches the remains of his hair as he walks out. Back in his bedroom, he tosses the hair on to the vanity, avoiding his reflection. He grabs one of the furs from his bed and walks out a set of glass doors that lead out to the large expanse of flat, featureless land the palace sits on. Wrapping the fur around his shoulders, he sinks to the ground. He looks out at the endless white earth and endless gray clouds and is filled to the brim with misery._

_In one year he will exchange one Hel for a new, different sort of Hel._

_He sniffs again, pulling the fur tighter around himself._

\- - -

They end up waiting for some time. Loki is silent as Frigga chats with the gatekeeper, his eyes on the closed portal.

Heimdall interrupts Frigga politely, walking up the steps of the podium in the center of the Bifrost to slide his sword in to it. Loki goes tense, while Frigga lets out another quiet laugh.

Seconds later the gate opens and Thor comes shooting back in to Asgard, along with the rest of the party. Loki feels himself smiling just at the sight of Thor, his stomach flipping when Thor's eyes meet his, the smile on his face blinding. He marches up to Loki and sweeps him up in his arms without hesitation and Loki's reaction is instant: His mouth meeting Thor's halfway while his body goes slack in Thor's embrace. It feels like they spend ages just kissing, the world narrowing to just the two of them.

Thor seems to be the first to remember they are not in fact alone, pulling back and looking to his mother and the gatekeeper with a bashful expression.

Frigga laughs, giving them a lazy wave of her hand as she says, “go ahead and get yourselves reacquainted, I'll tell your father you're back.”

Thor smiles again, scooping Loki up in to his arms and carrying him out of the Bifrost. Loki buries his face in the side of Thor's neck, inhaling the scent of his skin and nipping it. Thor rumbles, letting Loki's legs drop on to the bridge so he could unhook the hammer from his belt.

“I have missed you dearly, husband,” he says as he spins the hammer at his side.

Loki wraps his arms around Thor, kissing him again before replying with, “I've missed you as well.” Worryingly, he means it.

Thor makes a deep sound in the back of his throat, a soft whistle emanating from the hammer as whirls to a blur. Thor grips him tighter as he flings it towards the palace, dragging them through the air. Loki sucks in a sharp breath, digging his fingers in to Thor's armor as they fly over the bridge, the city blur of gold and bronze.

They land on the balcony to their room with a thud. Thor tosses the hammer aside and cups the back of Loki's head to crush their mouths together. Loki just tries to not trip on Thor's feet as he walks them backwards towards the bed. They flop on to it with a simultaneous “ _oof_ ” and set right back to kissing each others lips raw. Creampuff gives them a loud meow of displeasure at her disrupted her nap before she scurries off.

Thor drags himself up on to his hands and knees, smiling as he rakes his eyes over Loki. Loki's heart beats a little faster at his hungry look, his thighs twitching. Thor catches the movement, a sharp smile curving his lips. Wordlessly, he moves off the edge of the bed, his hands going to tug down Loki's breeches. Loki can't hold back the groan that rises from his throat, lifting his hips up to help Thor pull them down. After the pants are tossed aside, Thor gets down on his knees, grabbing Loki's hips to drag him to the edge of the bed. Loki makes an embarrassingly needy sound, draping his legs over Thor's shoulders and gripping on to the bedding.

Thor teases him first, of course. Planting kisses and nipping at the soft parts of Loki's inner thighs, dragging his bearded cheeks over them. A hand moves from Loki's hip to his cock, giving it light strokes that do nothing but make Loki pant and whine and get him relentlessly hard.

His tongue is finally brought in to play when Loki whines out his name, sliding slowly up his very wet slit. Thor hums, but stops short, and when Loki looks down there is a slightly quizzical tilt to Thor's brows.

“What?”

“You taste different.” Thor blinks and shakes his head a second later, letting out a soft laugh. Loki's eyelashes flutter as Thor's hot breath gust over him. “We've been apart too long.”

Loki lets his head fall back and grunts, grabbing Thor by the hair and pulling his head back down. He moans as Thor practically attacks him with his tongue, his fingers around Loki's cock tightening just enough to give him some real pleasure. Loki rocks against him, thrusting in to his fist and against his face with small motions while his calves run along the rough fabric of Thor's cape.

Thor pulls back when Loki is just about to come, ducking out of range of Loki's hands and out of the grasp of his winding legs with a rumbling laugh. He stands and tears off his cape, tossing it aside. Feeling impatient and annoyed, Loki gets up too, tearing off his own tunic before he goes pawing at the armor on Thor's chest like he's paid even the tiniest attention on how to get the damn thing off. Thor quickly grabs his hands, kissing them both before setting them on his own neck and working the armor off on his own.

“Faster,” Loki breaths on to Thor's lips, hands tangling in Thor's hair as he ravages Thor's mouth. Thor makes a sound like a deep purr in his chest, yanking on his chest plate hard enough that the still bound fastenings rip away, the two big pieces falling off his torso with thunks. Loki groans his approval, hands roaming downwards to run down his freshly exposed chest. He eventually makes it to the waistband of Thor's trousers, violently tugging them loose while Thor peels the scale mail off his arms.

Thor laughs as he pushes Loki back on to the bed so he can finish undressing. Loki holds himself over by spreading his legs and fucking himself with three of his own fingers, staring at Thor's thick cock bobbing between his legs when his trousers are slipped down them.

An undone sound is ripped from Thor's throat when he catches sight of Loki, pausing for a second to watch before doubling his speed, nearly tripping over his own boot in the process.

When he settles over Loki it's with a ridiculous, brilliant smile that makes Loki's stomach do another flip. “I love you,” Thor says, voice full of joy. Loki hardly has the chance to utter a word of reply, or even just let out a gasp of surprise before Thor's mouth is on his.

He lets out a muffled shriek as Thor sinks in to him all at once, hands scrambling to find purchase on Thor's solid arms. He groans as Thor begins thrusting, giving him the deep, _hard_ fuck he'd been craving for almost the entire time Thor has been gone. He wraps his legs around Thor's hips, his thighs squeezing to keep him buried deep.

Licking his lips, Loki rakes his nails down Thor's chest, golden skin blooming with red stripes and goosebumps. He yelps when Thor's thrusts harder in retaliation. Thor drags one of his hands down Loki's side, his touch rough and possessive, and cups Loki's hip. He holds him down, snapping his hips forward again and again. Loki's legs tremble in the air, Thor's cock stroking and filling him just right, squeezing his cunt around it to wring needy sounds from Thor. It builds so fast that Loki hardly realizes he's close to coming before he suddenly _is_. Gasping and clawing at Thor's skin while he shakes and cries out with it. Thor groans above him, grinding down in to Loki as he follows close behind, his cock emptying into Loki.

Thor leans down, pressing their mouths together in a soft, reverent kiss. He sighs as he sinks the rest of the way down on to Loki, both their bodies slack in the after math. Loki half expects Thor to say _those_ words again, but he doesn't. He just nuzzles Loki's neck and happily mumbles “it's very good to be home.”

They untangle themselves soon after, crawling under the blankets only to tangle themselves together again. Thor dozes off minutes later and Loki is oddly content to just lay there and watch him sleep, winding a few locks of silky golden hair between his dark blue fingers.

It takes him a while to notice the gentle pitter coming from behind him, from the balcony, and when he finally twists around to look his eyebrows raise at the sight. Asgard's ever-blue sky has clouded over and it's begun to rain for the first time since Loki's lived here. Loki's never seen rain – Jotunheim is far too cold for anything but snow – and he's filled with curiosity at the prospect of finally experiencing something he's only ever read about.

Easing himself from Thor's embrace, he climbs out of bed and slips on his crumpled tunic before he walks to the balcony. He stands at the edge of where the stone is stained by water, looking out over the sodden city, it's golden hue unhampered by the lack of sun – it's darker and seems even warmer, somehow. Cautiously, he holds his hand out in to the rain, the cool drops spattering his skin gently. He holds his hand farther and farther out, until his whole arm is getting soaked.

He doesn't realize Thor has woken up until he feels hands land heavy on his waist, their warmth seeping trough the fabric of his tunic.

“Oops,” Thor says as he wraps his arms around Loki and nuzzles in to his hair.

“I've never seen rain before,” Loki says, unable to keep all of the awe from his voice.

“Do you like it?”

Loki turns in Thor's arms and leans back so his head hangs in the rainfall, blinking rapidly as the fat drops around his eyes. Thor chuckles and tightens his grip, watching Loki with a smile.

When Loki straightens he is soaked past his shoulders. “I think I do.”

Thor's smile manages to brighten further. “There is more I should show you, then.”

\- - -

Loki tries summoning beast after beast in to Asgard. Thor bests them all while hardly breaking a sweat. He even brings Loki gifts from each kill – skins, scales, eyes, teeth – a beaming grin on his blood covered face as he hands Loki the morbid gifts. “I've heard it could be used for spellwork,” he says. He's right, and Loki feels warm as he takes the disgusting things.

Loki tries poisoning him again, sprinkling it over his food along with his drink this time. There must be something off in the potency of it, because it only manages to make Thor ill for a few hours. Loki feels bad enough about it that he holds Thor's hair back as he wretches and let's Thor use his lap as a pillow when he falls asleep, clammy and still smelling lightly of bile, afterwords.

There was even a halfhearted attempt at suffocating Thor one night as he had his head buried between Loki's legs. It ended with Loki walking even more bow-legged than usual.

Each attempt feels more fruitless than the last. It's with growing despair that Loki realizes that he might just have to stab the bastard in his sleep(and he even worries that the blade would end up merely breaking apart on his skin at this point).

He holds Creampuff to his chest, nuzzling his face in to her soft, fluffy neck. “I'm taking you with me when I run,” he says in to her fur. Creamfuff gives a little chirp in response.

\- - -

“Loki. Darling, wake up.”

Loki grunts, blinking the blurriness from his eyes as he peels his head from the bedding. Thor is sitting on the bed beside him, looking down at him in worry, his hand grasping Loki's shoulder lightly.

Wait- When did it get so dark? Loki twists around, looking out at the balcony out at the dusky evening.

“Are you feeling well, my love?” Thor asks, still looking worried.

“I feel fine.” Loki rolls on to his side, raking a hand through his hair. “Though I must've been more tired than I thought.”

“I became worried when you didn't show up to dinner.”

Loki sits up, yawning and stretching his arms over his head. He'd left Frigga's company when she noticed how sleepy he'd gotten and he'd gone back to their chambers intending to take a quick rest... He hadn't expected to sleep through the entire afternoon.

Thor is still giving him that worried look as he strokes a hand through Loki's hair. “Are you sure you're feeling well?”

Loki gives a soft chuckle. “I feel perfectly well. I'm sure I'm just tired from being kept up all night because a certain _someone_ could not keep their cock to themselves for more than five minutes at a time.”

Thor laughs too, the worried look finally falling. “If I recall, _a certain someone_ couldn't seem to stop pulling me back for more.”

“ _Sure_.”

“I'm very sure.”

They both laugh again, their lips meeting softly as they both lean in, exchanging soft, warm kisses until Loki's stomach gives a loud grumble.

“Guess I'm a bit peckish.”

“Then lets go have dinner while it's still warm,” Thor says with another soft laugh.

\- - -

Loki almost hates how good this feels: His hands panted to the pillar in front of him with his ass arched in to the air while Thor ruts in to him right in the middle of a corridor where anyone could pass by and see. Someone at the very least must be hearing Loki yowling Thor's name again and again.

Too bad the only thing he can seem to care about right now is having Thor's cock slam in to him repeatedly and bringing him to a swift, knee-buckling climax.

Luckily, Thor keeps him from collapsing to the floor with one gloriously large hand on his belly. He holds Loki up and continues to slowly fuck in to Loki until he comes with a deep, satisfied grown. Loki is still drunk from bliss as Thor pulls out and tugs Loki's breeches back in to place. He's biting his lip, his eyes half open, as he turns back around on jelly legs to face Thor, leaning heavily on the pillar. Thor still looks just as delectable as he did when Loki and Frigga entered the throne room, maybe even moreso with the light sheen of sweat and flushed cheeks.

Really, Loki can't be blamed if he just couldn't manage to make it all the way back to their bedroom to fuck.

\- - -

“Darling... Love... Loki, _please_.”

Loki's eyes blink open. He's confused in his half-asleep state, trying to figure out why Thor would be waking him.

“Loki I need to _get up-_ ”

Loki blinks again, squirms. “ _Hm?_ ”

“You're clinging to me, my love.”

Loki grunts, the words taking a moment to sink in before he realizes that it is indeed not the mattress he is wriggling around on. When he looks up Thor is giving him a strained look.

“As much as I'm enjoying this – and _believe_ me husband, I _am_ enjoying it – I'm going to be late for court if I don't get out of bed right now.”

Loki's face must be seven shades darker from embarrassment. He clears his throat and unwinds his legs from Thor's, tugs his arms out from under Thor's torso and then rolls off of him. Thor gives him the most saccharine sweet smile any being could manage and Loki buries his head under a pillow just to hide from it. Thor's weight makes the mattress dip as he leans over and plants a kiss on Loki's shoulder before tugging the blankets up to cover it.

“Sleep well, my love.”

Loki swallows, his face going hotter, and presses the pillow down on to his head.

\- - -

_“You've failed me,” Laufey growls. They're in his and Thor's bedroom and his father somehow seems even bigger in it, his shoulders touching the high ceilings and forcing him to curve forward as he looks down at Loki with the most hateful scowl he's ever seen._

_Loki cowers in the corner, his whole body shaking, a voice in the back of his mind calling out for Thor. “I didn't mean too! Let me try-”_

_His father lets out a harsh, humorless laugh. “I knew I should've tossed you in to the forest as soon as I gave birth to you. You'll always be nothing more than a useless runt.”_

_The world feels slippery. When he looks back up at his father it's to see him standing at his full height – which is even higher than moments ago – and the ceiling trialing off in to deep, black nothingness. Loki opens his mouth to plead again for another chance, but his throat closes around the words, leaving him with nothing but broken sobs. A blade of ice forms on Laufey's fist, glinting in the low light of the room._

_“You'll leave this life as you came in to it,” Laufey says as he raises his hand. “Simpering, covered in blood, and a disappointment to me.”_

_Loki shuts his eyes and screams._

“Loki! Loki wake up!”

Loki gasps and twists away from the grip on his shoulders. He trembles and pants as his eyes dart around the room. Laufey is nowhere to be seen, just Thor and a cat who look worried and bothered, respectively.

“Just a bad dream,” Loki says partly to himself. Thor nods and holds his hand out Loki, palm up. Loki takes it with a still shaking hand, letting himself get dragged in to Thor's arms. Tears start to fall before he even realizes, becoming thick, wracking sobs in just moments. Thor smooths Loki's hair back and kisses his head, quietly whispers comforting words that somehow make Loki feel better and worse.

Loki doesn't want to fall back to sleep, not wanting to take a chance on meeting his father in another dream, but Thor's touch is so lulling and his eye lids are so heavy...

\- - -

Thor has been giving Loki looks since the other night.

And they're not the looks he's used to getting from Thor.

He worries at first if perhaps he blurted out something about his plans during his dream. But then wouldn't he be locked away in a dungeon by now?

Perhaps Thor is waiting for some sort of confirmation. Or for Loki to strike.

With that thought his stomach flips. He hasn't even made an attempt on Thor's life in at least two weeks, and the last could barely even count as one. Loki shoves that thought and the little angry voice that sounds like his father away and focuses on his dinner plate instead, pushing anything that makes his nose scrunch up in displeasure in to a little pile on the side of it.

Thor waits patiently for Loki to have his fill of dessert before they both stand from the table, offering his hand to Loki and leading them out to the corridors.

Loki sees Thor watching him out of the corner of his eye, and his skin prickles at the scrutiny. “What?”

Thor looks away and shakes his head. “Nothing. Sorry.”

Loki just sighs and nods. They walk silently for a few minutes.

Then, Thor stops, the both of them turning and facing each other. “It's just- Something's been _odd_ about you lately...”

Loki purses his lips at that, pulling his hand out of Thor's to cross his arms over his chest. Thor's studying him even more intensely, his head tilting as he thinks. His eyes glance away, brows furrowing. Suddenly, they shoot up, his eyes going wide as he looks back at Loki.

“ _What?_ ” Loki asks, his voice coming out a bit harsher than intended.

Thor just blinks at him at first, gaping at him. His mouth slowly forms in to a smile and then he says, “I think you may be pregnant.”

“What?” Loki's face goes slack with shock, his legs threatening to do the same. “No!? ... _What!?_ ”

Thor's smile broadens, his hands catching Loki's by the waist as he sways. He glances back and forth from Loki's belly to his face and Loki has to hang on to Thor's shoulders for dear life.

Loki doesn't know what to say- what to do. “H-how?”

“I knew something had to be going on when you fell asleep during sex!”

Loki needs to sit down. Or vomit. _Maybe both_. “Take me to the healers.”

Thor is _beaming_ at him. “Of course.”

\- - -

Thor is damn near vibrating while Loki can hardly keep his legs under him.

He is _very_ much pregnant and _very_ much wants to scream.

Loki collapses in to the nearest chair as soon as they walk in to the bedroom, his hands shaking as he rakes them through his hair. Something about it must hamper Thor's enthusiasm, since he sobers up a bit and kneels down in front of Loki with concern etched on his features.

“Are you alright?” he asks with a bit of hesitation, his hands cupping Loki's trembling knees.

Loki takes a deep, shuddering breath. “It's just... a little overwhelming.” He needs to speak to his father.

Thor nods with a look of understanding.

“Can I have some time alone?”

Thor nods again, kissing Loki's forehead as he rises up. Gently taking Loki's chin between his fingers, he plants another kiss high on his cheekbone. “I love you,” he whispers. Loki shudders.

Thor leaves and Loki sits there for a few minutes while Creampuff purrs and winds around his legs.

Loki stands, walking to a small chest where he keeps his jewelery. He picks up a blue amulet that hangs on a long, silver chain. The smooth stone swirls as though it's filled with smoke. It feels dreadfully heavy in his palm.

He walks to the bathroom, cat trotting along beside him, and picks one of the many mirrors to stand in front of. He lets out a sob as he slips it over his head, unable to hold back any longer. He shakes as the mirror undulates, as the spell does the work of summoning his father.

He thinks of his nightmare. How Laufey sneered at him, his fist swinging high to slice him in two. When his father appears in the mirror, he looks gleeful. Loki tastes bile on the back of his tongue.

“You've finally done it?”

Loki gives his head a small shake and watches Laufey's face fall.

“Then what have you called me for?” he asks in a low growl.

“I'm-” Loki's chin quivers hard enough that his teeth clack together. “I'm pregnant,” he forces out, already wincing.

There's nothing but horrible, awful silence the minute after he says the words.

“What!?”

Loki gulps and chances a look at the mirror. The livid look on his face makes Loki's knees nearly give, but he manages to keep standing. He flinches as he hears the distant clatter from whatever object his father has thrown in his rage.

Laufey growls, “you've _FAILED_ me!”

Loki cries out and falls against the wall at the all too familiar words. Laufey snarls something else that Loki can't hear past the pounding in his head.

“I didn't mean to-”

“ _Didn't mean to'_ blegh!” Another clatter and Loki shields his face with his hands. “I should've known you'd never be able to manage this. All those wasted years I could've spent formulating a plan that my useless runt of child wouldn't have completely fucked up.”

Loki looks down at his feet, his face and stomach twisting. They're words he's heard countless times, but they hurt nonetheless.

There are a few beats of silence. Then his father says, his voice strange and quiet, “perhaps you can manage to salvage this.”

Loki looks back up, blinking at the reflection of his father. “What?”

Laufey scoffs. He looks at Loki like he's an idiot, leaning forward with a glare as he speaks slowly, as if Loki can't understand what he's about to say. “Rid yourself of that _thing_ before it becomes anymore of a problem and kill Thor like you _should have_ months ago.”

Loki lays his hands over his belly, somehow finding himself in shock at his father's words.

“You _want_ a second chance, do you not?”

“I-” Loki looks away from his father as his vision blurs with tears. His jaw clenches as he's filled with anger, the heat of it burning under his skin so hot that he wouldn't be surprised if he were to look down and see his arms blistering with it.

Loki wants many things right now. Not to be called a _useless runt_ ever again. To dig his father's hideous eyes out with a spoon. To claw at his skin until the lines on it are unrecognizable.

Loki glances out the door and in to the bedroom and his mind suddenly becomes clear for the first time.

Loki wants to spend every night with Thor, huddled away in their bed and under their tiny constellations. He wants to have Thor kiss him everyday, the worlds narrowing down to just the two of them for those moments. He wants to see his smile, hear his laugh, feel the warmth of his body. He wants to feel Thor's hands on his belly as their child grows within it. He doesn't want to kill him. Never really has, actually.

Loki looks back at his father. “I don't.”

Laufey's face twists in confusion. “What!?”

“You _lied_ ,” Loki snarls, stepping closer to the mirror. “He's not the hideous monster you never shut up about. That was _you_.”

Laufey opens his mouth to speak, and Loki is quick to interrupt him be fore he can.

“You know what that terrifying, bloodthirsty beast has never done?” Loki starts, voice rising. “Called me a _useless runt_. Thrown things at me. Threatened to throw me to the wolves for displeasing him. _Hated_ me for existing since the day I was born!”

Loki takes a breath, pushing the hair back from his face with a shaking hand. “If I should slit anyone's throat it should be yours,” he adds his voice raw.

Laufey works his jaw, his eyes cold and calculating as he stares at Loki. “Will that still be the case when he finds out.”

Loki doesn't answer and his father smiles.

“You've made a grave mistake, little Loki.”

With a lazy wave of a leathery hand, his father disappears and Loki is left staring at his own reflection. Loki tears the necklace off with a growl and throws it to the mirror, craking the glass.

He rushes out of the bathroom, panic making his heart pound against his ribs. He must tell Thor first. He grabs every knife and poison he brought to Asgard and lays them out on the table, shooing Creampuff away when she comes to investigate. He marches out to the foyer, then the study, hoping with every fiber of his being that Thor will be in there.

He's not sure if he's actually relieved when he does find Thor there. He must look as distressed as he feels because when Thor looks up from the book he's reading his expression become worried in a second.

“What's the matter?” Thor says, already standing from his desk, his book tossed aside.

Loki grabs him and begins dragging him back to the bedroom. “I have to tell you something right now,” Loki says, his voice already thick.

“What's wrong?” Thor asks. His eyes fall on the knives and poisons, his expression turning confused. “What's going on?”

Loki begins to weep as he turns to face Thor – he can't hold the tears back. He takes a deep breath and grabs Thor's arms for something steady to hold on to. “My father – he never wanted peace with Asgard – sent me here to _kill_ you. But I couldn't do it and I fell in love with you and now I don't know what my father intends to do and I've never been so _terrified-_ ”

“ _Shh_.” Thor takes Loki's face in his hands, searching his face for a few moments before he says, “tell me everything.”

\- - -

It spills out of Loki. Every single bit of it. By the end he's sobbing so hard that he's nearly gagging from it, his whole body trembling in Thor's arms.

\- - -

They're summoned to the throne room shortly after. Loki's amazed that Thor does not hate him, that he still holds Loki close as they walk in. His grip tightens around Loki as his eyes land on Laufey and the small clan of guards he brought with standing before the throne, the look on his face turning dark.

They come to stand a good distance away from his father. Loki's courage is thoroughly sapped and he avoids looking his father's way at all, instead keeping his focus on Odin as he sits looking warily at them all, and Frigga standing at his side. He even shies away from her gaze, unsure of how to read the look on her face. He buries his face in to the side of Thor's neck, feeling the safety and warmth there.

“I'd like to have a word with my son and his husband,” Odin says. Loki flinches at the sound of footsteps, big and heavy, heaving a sigh of relief when the doors shuts. Thor walks them closer to the throne when they're gone.

“Well,” Odin sighs, “I've gotten one story from Laufey, and I'm guessing I'll have a different one from you?”

Loki looks to Thor for guidance. Thor gives a small nod of his head, his hand sliding to the small of his back.

“I'm sure he's told you that my purpose here was to kill Thor.”

Odin gives one slow nod of his head.

“That is true. _Was_ true. Though I doubt he mentioned that I did under his order.”

Odin gives a tilt of his head. “He did not.”

“He intended for this whole treaty, and our marriage, to be a way for me to get in to Asgard and murder Thor.”

“And then?” Odin asks.

“He would just speak of Asgard's downfall, he never said what that involved.”

Odin nods again, looking off as he thinks for a few moments. Loki jumps when his eye suddenly falls back to him.

“You look miserable,” he says lightly despite the deepness to is voice. “Let Frigga walk you back to your chambers. I'd like to speak more with Thor and Laufey but it may end up taking a bit.”

Loki panics, looking fearfully at Thor who is quick to pull him close. “She will let no harm come to you,” he whispers in to Loki's ear. Pulling back, he gives Loki a quick smile and strokes a tear-stained cheek. “Go and rest. I will be back as soon as I can.”

Loki manages to give him a tiny nod of his head. He makes his way up the steps to the throne, towards Frigga, his nerves making him shaky. She smiles softly and takes his arm when he makes it to her, leading him out one of the side doors so they won't have to pass his father.

They walk in silence back to his and Thor's chambers, and by the time they make to the bedroom Loki's beginning to crash from the night's events, his eyes and head aching, his body trembling even harder. Without a word, Frigga helps him get ready for bed, taking on the task of combing the knots out of Loki's hair and picking out a fresh tunic for him to change in to when it's obvious he has no energy to manage it on his own. He's still snuffling by the time he's settled in bed, Creampuff climbing in to his lap to knead his belly.

“I'm pregnant,” he blurts out.

“Ah,” Frigga says with a small laugh as she takes a seat at the edge of the bed and hands Loki a cup of cool water, “that would explain why this all suddenly came about.”

Loki has avoided looking at Frigga's face much at all, too afraid to see any anger there. He's grown to truly enjoy Frigga's company, and the woman herself, since coming here and he's not sure how to handle that changing. He's forced to look her in the eye when she reaches out and hooks under his chin with a finger, pushing it up gently.

“You know, none of us are exactly racing to send you off to the dungeons, right?”

Loki blinks at her. “Are you not angry with me?”

Frigga gives him a soft smile. “My son is very alive and very in love. What do I have to be angry about?”

Loki feels some tension ease from his shoulders.

“Face it Loki – you make a much better husband than an assassin.”

Loki laughs for the first time that night. He laughs harder than the little joke probably warrants, but the longer it goes the more relaxed he feels, and by the time he trails off he's slumped against the headboard with hands on his aching belly.

He screams and jumps a second later when the world outside flashes white and there's a loud crack just after.

“Oh, Thor,” Frigga lets out in an annoyed sigh. She gets up and shuts the curtains. With a wave of her hand the fabric flickers gold and every noise coming from beyond them is silenced, leaving them with the quiet crackle from the fireplace.

“Would you like for me to leave so you can sleep?”

Loki's mouth twists. Despite being immensely tired, he's still so keyed up that he's not sure he actually could fall asleep right now. Not while his father is in the same realm, under the same roof. He gives a small shake of his head and Frigga gives him a small smile in return and sits back down on the bed.

“So,” she starts, grasping his ankle through the bedding, “I'm going to be a grandmother.”

\- - -

Loki's not sure when he falls asleep, but he wakes to Thor slipping in to bed beside him, looking just as weary and tired as Loki.

“What time is it?” Loki asks, voice half gone.

“Nearly morning,” Thor croaks back.

And because curiosity will eat him otherwise. “What happened?”

Thor lets out a huff of a laugh. “Well, to give you the short version: Laufey kept insisting that it had all been your scheme for a good while, but he could not reign in his hatred for me and my father and before too long he let some of the truth slip out. I had an immensely difficult time not killing him.”

The corner of Loki's mouth lifts, Thor's mirroring the look. Thor reaches up and cups Loki's cheek, running his thumb along Loki's cheekbone.

“Jotunheim has been cut of from the rest of the realms for the foreseeable future.”

Loki looks shocked at that.

Thor adds, softly, “me and my father thought it would be best to keep this as quiet as possible. We will – well, _I_ will – have to reevaluate eventually and find a more permanent solution, but we decided that now would not be the best time for a war to break out between our realms.”

Loki nods as he looks away, feeling a strange sense of loss.

“What is it, love?”

 _Oh, call me that again_. “I'm not sure, honestly. It just feels... _odd_. My _entire_ life was spent will the sole intent of killing you and... now it's not.” Loki lets out a quiet, humorless laugh and adds, “I'm not sure what I'm supposed to do now, I guess.”

Thor smiles sweetly and brushes Loki's hair behind his ear as he leans over to kiss his cheek. “You can just be my husband. I assume it's mostly like what you have been doing, but with fewer knives.”

Loki truly laughs at that, trailing off in to a sigh as Thor drags him closer and lays Loki on top of him. He feels lighter. _Sure_ , it's in that slightly uncomfortable, _hollow_ sort of way, but Thor is still smiling very sweetly at him so he imagines it will feel better soon enough.

“And there is the whole matter of our,” Thor trails off and looks up at Loki, his smile falling the tiniest bit. Loki becomes acutely aware of his belly and it makes him squirm. Thor clears his throat and asks in the smallest voice he can manage, “do you _want_ to have a child? You didn't seem very-”

“I do,” Loki answers in a rush of breath. He sits up, straddling Thor's hips and resting his hands on his chest. Loki takes a deep breath and feels the broad smile forming on his face. “I _do_. It's terrifying, but I do.”

Thor's smile comes back full force, his hands grasping Loki's hips. “Good.”

Loki lowers himself, pressing their lips together in a languid kiss.

Then he pulls back, the tips of their noses bumping together, and says, “I love you.”

“I love you too,” Thor sighs back happily.


	5. Chapter 5

Loki yawns. The party is in full swing and he could just fall asleep right on his plate. He glances to Thor, looking regal and golden in the candlelight as he laughs at one of his friend's stories. This night is not much unlike their wedding, full of reminiscing and unasked advice. Only this time Loki doesn't get to distract himself with drinking. He's also miffed that they don't get to sit in that little bench again. The throne like seats they're in now are making his hips ache more than usual.

Thor's runs his thumb along Loki's knuckles as they hang entwined in the empty space between their chairs. Loki has had enough. He wants to snuggle. He stands and Thor's eyes shoot to him, a little worry creeping in the expression on his face. Poor Thor has been in constant _state_ since they found out of his pregnancy – always fretting over Loki and trying to coddle him – Loki would be annoyed by it if he didn't find it so sweet. Loki smiles and makes his ungraceful way to Thor's much more comfortable lap. He sinks down and Thor is quick to accommodate him, one hand supporting Loki's back while the other goes to the prominent swell of Loki's belly, adjusting his legs so Loki is comfortably perched on his thighs. Loki rests his head on Thor's, humming as Thor pushes aside the long, leather waistcoat Loki wears and smooths out the soft gown beneath it.

“Are you alright?” Thor asks. The heat of his palm and the soft rumble of his voice makes their child squirm.

“Just tired as always,” Loki sighs, nuzzling in to Thor's lovely smelling hair.

“We can retire to our rooms if you'd like.”

Loki scoffs, lifting his head to look at Thor. “I would not spoil your coronation just because I'm sleepy. You should enjoy this, your the king now.”

“You do not spoil anything,” Thor chuckles, hand rubbing in slow circles. Ooh, that feels good. “And there will be many more parties for us to attend. The party for when this little one comes along will be _massive_ , surely.”

Loki laughs at that. “Ah, yes, loud, drunken debauchery – the perfect welcome for an _infant_.”

Thor gives him a half-smile and shrugs. “What's the point of celebrating if you can't show your happiness by smashing a few cups and breaking some furniture?”

“ _Ridiculous_ ,” Loki mumbles as he rolls his eyes and gives Thor a quick peck on the lips.

“Do you wish to go?” Thor asks again a few seconds later.

Loki hums. He is getting a bit of a headache. “Sure.”

Thor smiles sweetly, craning his neck to kiss Loki on the cheek. He steadies Loki as he stands from his lap, his hand glued to the small of Loki's back as they make their way through the party.

There had been some questions and murmured rumors about why Laufey had shown up that night. Because of that, it was decided to announce the pregnancy, far sooner than Thor or Loki otherwise might have, using it to distract and explain it away. It worked. Everyone concluded that Laufey had just come to congratulate the couple face to face or just forgot the incident entirely. No one aside from the royal family, Heimdall, and a few guards who'd been there to witness it that night knows the real reason. Odin had decided to step down from the throne soon after, something he and Thor had already been preparing for _anyways_ , but he thought the time felt right with Loki being pregnant and all.

Loki imagines people will be asking why no one from Jotunheim came to the coronation soon enough, but that is something to worry about _later_.

People shout well-wishes at them and they smile dutifully and thank their guests, until they are finally out and in the empty corridor. The air in it is a touch cooler out here and Loki drinks it in, his ears ringing slightly in the quiet. Loki's face heats when he spies Thor staring at him out of the corner of his eye.

“You look especially gorgeous tonight. Have I told you that already?” Thor says, taking Loki's hand in his, giving the knuckles a kiss.

Loki smirks. “You may have mentioned it earlier.”

“ _Good_ ,” Thor says.

“How does it feel to be king?” Loki asks, still smirking.

“Feels a bit like being drunk, but that just might be the mead.”

Loki lets out a small huff of laughter, and they walk slow and quiet down the hall for a few minutes. Loki's feet begin to ache in that time. _There's been so much standing today_. He must grimace with out realizing because Thor is upon him seconds later.

“Is everything alright?” Thor asks, hands on Loki's waist, eyes wide.

Loki laughs again, brushing back a tendril of hair from his worrywart husband's face. “Just normal aches and pains. No need to get all worked up.”

The fretful look on Thor's face drops off, turning a bit bashful. “Sorry.”

“My feet _are_ aching quite terribly, though,” Loki says. His hand caresses Thor's cheek, the side of his neck, his eyebrows rising as he grins at Thor. “Perhaps my big, strapping _king_ wouldn't mind carrying me the rest of the way to our rooms?”

Thor smiles, moving swiftly, and seconds later Loki is scooped up in to Thor's arms. Loki wiggles and stretches his toes as much as he can in the shoes he wears, groaning relief as some of the aching rescinds.

“Better?” Thor asks.

Loki sighs happily, pressing another kiss to Thor's hair. “Much better.”


End file.
